tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517917052344425892024-03-05T18:58:59.775-08:00Another Prick In The WallFootballovingly, We're all just pricks in the wall...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-90908423053419748232011-07-23T00:37:00.000-07:002011-07-23T00:45:48.264-07:00Faking News: Why the Cesc Transfer Saga Remains a Saga<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moc, Moc or Mock, Mock?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">As you can see, Another Prick In The Wall hasn’t been writing lately. But it isn’t because APTW has been mulling over the possibility of seeing Thong Boy in a <a href="http://www.gorillasnot.us/">Gorilla Snot Hair Gel</a> sponsored Real jersey ala <a href="http://www.uglyfootballkits.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/chivas-bimbo-jersey-300x300.jpg">Bimbo sponsoring Chivas Guadalajara</a>. It’s actually because the blog has been trying to get an exclusive take from the Barcelona authorities on the Cesc transfer saga, which admittedly is not a very difficult thing to do, as they all love to talk about Cesc down in Catalaunya, about how much he wants to return and how much they want him back and how those sods in Arsenal are making the poor guy suffer by not letting him go for free. No, but the blog wanted to know why Barcelona are not ready to spend a shade over 40 million to secure Cesc, when they can spend 37 million for Sanchez, drafting up the prints of the agreement in black and white and saving on color toners.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After a bit of skullduggery on its part, the blog did manage to secure an exclusive interview with Sandro Rossel and Barca’s financial bigwig Javier Faus, no less! So here’s the exclusive:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> What do you want to say about Cesc?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Rossel:</b> Don’t you read “The Sun”? For the record, our players have been misquoted</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> But didn’t Xavi quote on your official website that Cesc is suffering at Arsenal?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Rossel:</b> Well our players are friends with each other and can talk about these issues openly</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> But Cesc is an Arsenal player under contract, Sir…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Rossel:</b> He has Barcelona DNA and he wore the Barcelona jersey after winning the world cup, didn’t he? Puyol & Pique also took his picture down from the Emirates wall and posed with it, didn’t they? Arsenal knows this and they have no problems with it because they know we have utmost respect for Arsenal, moc moc</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> Er…well, but if everyone wants Cesc at Barcelona, don’t you think you should pay Arsenal what they value him at, considering he’s their biggest star?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Rossel:</b> See, this type of two penny journalistic garbage is what I don’t like. No wait, scratch that. I like such two penny journalistic garbage</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> Why so?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Rossel:</b> I think you’d better talk with Mr. Javier Faus. He will explain to you what numbnuts like you can never fathom…Oi Faus! Come here!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Faus:</b> Yes, Mr. Rossel</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Rossel:</b> This Prem Face smart ass here wants us to pay Arsenal what they value Cesc at!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Faus:</b> Do you now, son? And why should we pay them what they value Cesc at?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> So that you can secure the services of the player you want, who’s under contract at Arsenal. It’ll be good for all the three parties. Barcelona, because they get the player they want…Arsenal because they will have sold their star for the right kind of compensation…and Cesc because this will put an end to all the uncertainty</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">At this time, Faus & Rossel looked at each other and sniggered.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> Am I…Am I missing something here?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Faus:</b> My dear boy. This is why you are a two penny reporter out to make a name for yourself and I handle the finances of such a huge club like Barcelona. We don’t need to sign Cesc really. We can afford to have Arsenal sweat it out and then pay at the price we want to pay. Cesc will not be concerned, he has Barcelona DNA</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> But Sir, if you do not want to sign him, you should say so!! People are burning Barcelona jerseys on the streets, if you know, during Arsenal’s tour of China!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Faus</b> (roaring with laughter)<b>:</b> Ahh my boy. Let me explain you the financials. Having a disgruntled Cesc is bad for Arsenal, yes?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> Check</div><div class="MsoNormal">Faus: Will they probably lower their asking price once they realize Cesc’s Barcelona DNA is affecting his Arsenal ways?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> Check</div><div class="MsoNormal">Faus: So will we get him for cheap?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> Check</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Faus:</b> And you know, that’s not all. If we do sign Cesc, he’s not going to sell as many jerseys as Xavi, Iniesta or Messi do. While the time we let Arsenal sweat it out, we continue talking about Cesc and people will end up burning more Barcelona jerseys. So we’re making money out of jersey sales for Cesc without even signing the player. Another couple of months and we’ll be able to afford the colored toners, don’t you think? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> Check</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Rossel:</b> Damn, you shouldn’t have mentioned that, you idiot!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Faus:</b> Oh but I miss the colored toners!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> Thanks for the…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Rossel:</b> You’ll be misquoting Mr. Faus if you print this.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>APTW:</b> Like I care…like anyone has cared.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: For the uninitiated, this article is a work of Satire. </span></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-29879932494307611272011-06-29T12:10:00.000-07:002011-06-29T12:10:16.234-07:00A warm breeze from Costa Del Sol<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">VanGol's Andalucian Affair</td></tr>
</tbody></table>There were over 15000 of them in the stands, delirious with joy, waving their scarves, signing “Malaga, La Bombonera”; most of them in their striped blue and white jerseys. The fireworks went off as a timed response to that player who emerged from the dressing room onto the big green pitch and waved to the fans. Blue and white confetti rained down while balloons of the same color rained skywards as the 35 year old Ruud Van Nistelrooy, one of the most lethal finishers in Europe over the last two decades, marked his return back to Spain and acknowledged the crowd, a crowd which exceeded the ones present at his official presentation at all of his previous clubs. One may be forgiven to think that VanGol had made a switch to one of the European elites judging by the amount of fanfare. But Malaga CF are far from being an European elite. They are far from being even a Spanish elite. A club who’s very identity is framed by obscurity, a club which till date has won only one title: The Intertoto Cup, a club which has always been run by presidents that skinny dipped in controversy or landed in a pan of boiling oil soon after resigning from their posts, a club which typified the textbook definition of a yo-yo club, a club who’s lack of remembrance in the annals of La Liga is only eclipsed by the size of the region in Spain it hails from. Until Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani took over, that is.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><strong>An Obscure Identity</strong><br />
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Malaga CF is one of the youngest clubs in Spain if you go by the official records which record the date the club was registered as 29th June, 1994. However, like stated before, the club’s very existence has been shrouded in obscurity and in an identity crisis. To say that the club has had more aliases than Frank William Abagnale Jr. ever did would not be overstating it either. However, like many clubs that originated in Spain, a club named Malaga Foot-Ball Club was formed as early as 1904 in the coastal city of Malaga by the crew of foreign ships, the British, that docked at the local harbor. In 1912, probably in an attempt to fuel Morbo, a rival club by the name of FC Malagueño was formed. Malaga Foot-Ball club was granted royal patronage by King Alfonso XIII and became Real Malaga FC in 1927. In 1929, both the clubs took the monumental decision of forming the Tercera division in Spain, something which can never been taken away from the club. In 1930, in an attempt to appear more than a football club, Real Malaga FC was rechristened as Malaga Sports Club. In 1933, both FC Malagueño and Malaga Sports Club merged to become Club Deportivo Malacitano, which then debuted in the Segunda Division. Post the Spanish Civil War, in 1941, the club changed its name once more to Club Deportivo Malaga and started playing at their stadium, affectionately named La Rosaleda (The Rose Garden). <br />
<br />
And so CD Malaga flitted in from one division to the other and back for a good many years, achieving the ignominious record of the Spanish club to have secured the highest number of promotions, which also meant that they were relegated that many times. However, coming back to the identity crisis, in 1948, CD Malaga took over a youth club, CD Santo Tomas with the purpose of building a reserve team. The reserve club was rechristened as Club Atlético Malagueño, thereby stoking the embers of the then long defunct FC Malagueño. Then in the 1959-60 season, the parent club CD Malaga, and the reserve team CA Malagueño found themselves in the same league; the Tercera. As per the league rules, CA Malagueño could not play in Tercera due to the presence of the parent club and hence CA Malagueño registered as an independent club with the Spanish Football Federation.<br />
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In 1992, facing overwhelming debts, CD Malaga dissolved due to insolvency however the other independent club CA Malagueño continued. Despite facing financial problems of their own, CA Malagueño were promoted to the Segunda B and would’ve been liquidated had local businessmen Federico Beltron & Fernando Puche not put in their own cash to rescue the club. In 1994, the club’s board voted in favor of changing names once more and on 29th June, the club legally adopted the title of Malaga Club de Futbol S.A.D. which is how the world knows them today.<br />
<br />
<strong>Presidential Woes</strong><br />
<br />
Malaga’s presidential history has been typified by some dark and colorful presidents, for whom the end hasn’t exactly been sweet. During their golden period, a five year unbroken stint in the Primera from the late 60s to the early 70s, the club’s president Antonio Rodríguez López was murdered by hired assassins, rumored to be on the payroll of the local mafia. As mentioned before, President Fernando Puche saved what remained of Malaga from the brink of extinction by injecting in his own money, but is currently facing a two year jail term after being convicted for dealing in contraband tobacco. The new millennium saw Malaga’s new president, Serafin Roldan, a self-confessed Barcelona fan, rack up an astonishing 30 million euros in debt and was rumored to be trying to push a deal with Arsenal FC to convert Malaga into a satellite club for the Premier League giants. Unsurprisingly, the deal fell through and Roldan sold to the club to ex-Real Madrid President, Lorenzo Sanz who purchased the club for 6 million euros and assumed the responsibility of the 30 million in debt. Lorenzo appointed his son Fernando who oversaw the club go into and come out of administration, while Lorenzo himself tried to unsuccessfully buy Italian club Bari before being jailed on two separate occasions, once for trying to encash a fraud bank cheque and the second for trying to smuggle artwork out of Spain. Fernando Sanz sold the club to Qatar’s Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani for 36 million euros, which was the net worth of the club’s debt.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3H4DPs3OwnabIRZNuHpEjvlkI4PQ353LmQhAO51qWpqosaqW2ZaWwi4UvxddhegF3QO64iHkBOTmTgcHZiCBy9Fer0jjxb_Qv-pvaiaY78FUQNfDnaaPSUswPGGSwltGBBT543WgXy0/s1600/malaga5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3H4DPs3OwnabIRZNuHpEjvlkI4PQ353LmQhAO51qWpqosaqW2ZaWwi4UvxddhegF3QO64iHkBOTmTgcHZiCBy9Fer0jjxb_Qv-pvaiaY78FUQNfDnaaPSUswPGGSwltGBBT543WgXy0/s640/malaga5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Al Sahoud & Ghubn in Happier Times</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Upon the acquisition of the club, the Sheikh came across as a person with enough money that he didn’t know what to do with it, and predictably, Malaga’s first season under his ownership wasn’t exactly a happy one. Malaga based attorney, Yasmin Al Sahoud was appointed CEO for the club soon after Al Thani took over with Abdullah Ghubn as Chief Secretary. What resulted was a power struggle between Al Sahoud and Ghubn and barely three months into her appointment, Yasmin Al Sahoud was sacked from her post by Ghubn who assumed the role of vice-president with Al Thani as the President and a new pawn, Jose Maria Fernandez Mochon appointed as the General Director. While details about why Al Sahoud was sacked were unclear, it appeared as if the former CEO had detected financial irregularities and the lack of commitment on the club’s (Al Thani’s) part to legally close deals with players like Galatto, Sandro Silva and Quincy. The first half of the first season under Al Thani’s ownership went by sorting out the power struggle and restructuring management within the club, while ex-Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira ran the club to the bottom of the table.<br />
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<strong>The New Beginning</strong><br />
<br />
The club’s fans who might’ve envisioned a grand future in the wake of the Sheikh’s takeover might’ve seen their dreams snuff out slowly as Malaga continued dropping down in the league table, and would’ve been unwillingly looking forward to yet another league in the Segunda as the club were lodged firmly in 18th position. That was in November 2010 when Al Thani finally took the decision to dispose of Ferreira and hire the Chilean, ex-Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini, who had built up a reputation for himself as an austere coach by turning Villarreal into European pretenders. That coupled with the winter acquisitions of Julio Baptista & Martin DeMichelis in the winter transfer window ensured that Malaga not only broke free of relegation but ended the season in 11th position. The real resurgence for Malaga CF which began in the 2nd half of last season has spilled over into the summer transfer window with the club making some prolific signings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bUsQxppcogCZDxbhyphenhyphen46CjeHgRd5vCr9YNYJfnvIj_GNyEhH6hS0aSKdC8avXAxiukU7W_DcNV4CRmYyxyvm6-9grDQP8MM2gaXw5qaJQGbHoh3I27xlqNo6J2GDrL1kIu1AJrvZgc98/s1600/malaga4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bUsQxppcogCZDxbhyphenhyphen46CjeHgRd5vCr9YNYJfnvIj_GNyEhH6hS0aSKdC8avXAxiukU7W_DcNV4CRmYyxyvm6-9grDQP8MM2gaXw5qaJQGbHoh3I27xlqNo6J2GDrL1kIu1AJrvZgc98/s640/malaga4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ushering in the Dawn of a New Era</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ruud Van Nistelrooy was the first signing of this summer (free transfer) and the club followed it up with highly rated full back Nacho Monreal from CA Osasuna (5 million), attacking midfielder Diego Buonanotte from the now relegated River Plate (4 million), winger Joaquin from Valencia (4 million), center back Joris Mathijsen from HSV (2 million), and defensive midfielder Jeremy Toulalan from Olympique Lyonnais (10 million).<br />
<br />
What has set Malaga apart this summer and made the club the talk of the footballing world in the positive sense is the project being set up at the club by Al Thani. Contrary to noveau rich clubs which go crazy with new, free money (ala Manchester City) or suffer because of lack of it (ala Racing Santander), Malaga has been typified with a strict budget, a no-nonsense approach in the transfer market and an absolute refusal to tip their hands in their quest to get what they want; a case in point being the club played hard ball with Valencia to negotiate the transfer of Joaquin. Valencia CF wanted 6 million euros to release Joaquin, while Malaga opened negotiations by tabling an undervalued 2 million euro offer. Joaquin was finally unveiled as a Malaga player for 3,696,00 Euros; a decent piece of business done no matter how you look at it. And it’s not as if the club’s buying washed out players either. VanGol is the only player in the twilight of his career and would most likely serve as back up to Julio Baptista who would probably be starting the bulk of the season. What the signings so far have brought forth is a decent mix of youth, experience and quality, all at an affordable price; always a recipe for success. <br />
<br />
<strong>The New Project</strong><br />
<br />
This is where the blog leaves established facts and enters the realm of speculation based on what was and what is, gazes into the crystal ball and tea leaves and then tries to analyze what the future has in store for Malaga.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaedssJzianpaZHSTdkvz-HnVMoIyAXENLVorWdOcZSuB9SGr1Gh42C2tvy2jQeJ7bFgJmRzML3WCUhrY5tvEWaEB2NYaE9Xuqqy1_INPrPbiUqjiC0F0i37gk7RRwK_Bm8brZT4LXbjE/s1600/malaga2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaedssJzianpaZHSTdkvz-HnVMoIyAXENLVorWdOcZSuB9SGr1Gh42C2tvy2jQeJ7bFgJmRzML3WCUhrY5tvEWaEB2NYaE9Xuqqy1_INPrPbiUqjiC0F0i37gk7RRwK_Bm8brZT4LXbjE/s640/malaga2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And We have a Deal!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sheikh Al Thani’s decision to buy Malaga has, in all appearances, been a carefully thought about decision. The vice-chairman & member of the board of directors at Doha Bank in Qatar, Al Thani has looked at Malaga as an investment, both in the short term and the long run. A descendant of the royal family, the Sheikh doesn’t really need to make profit out of the club plainly because (leaving the UEFA FFP Rules aside) he doesn’t need the money the club generates for the club to function; one of the perks of being a multi billionaire, many times over. However bankers are often known to be the most miserly folk and Al Thani has been no exception in that aspect. The club was purchased for literally nothing, if you discount the debt of 36 million euros, as that is the same amount that Al Thani paid Lorenzo Sanz to acquire majority stake holding in the club and wipe the club’s slate clean. A figure of 36 million euros would not have burnt a huge hole in the Sheikh’s pocket given what he was getting in return. The choice of Malaga was also a carefully thought out on. For starters, Los Boquerones (named after the local anchovies) were playing in Primera, which was obviously very desirable. Secondly, their debt situation was serious, but not so serious as some of the other clubs in Spain (Zaragoza for instance have a 110 million euros debt) whose management were willing to be bought out. Thirdly, Al Thani, who owns an empire comprising of hotel chains and shopping centers must’ve had the upcoming FIFA Football World Cup in Qatar on his mind. Having a strong fan base in Spain, a nation which as defending champions and most likely to have a record appearance in crowd numbers, would certainly help in attracting crowds to what is essentially a desert country (one of the most beautiful desert countries, though). An influx of crowds to the World Cup will certainly help the Sheikh in more ways than one, raising his own standing in Qatar and not to mention the business that would come his way. The fourth reason for choosing Malaga CF was simply its location. Malaga, the city, has a sizeable expat population who also form a major chunk of the fanbase of the club. It has an airport which tourists use on their way to visit the nearby Costa Del Sol, a tourist hotbed. Needless to say, attracting the expat population and having a base in one of the tourism hotbeds in Spain goes a long way in generating more revenue for Al Thani.<br />
<br />
But it is not just Al Thani who stands to gain by this confluence of a club in crisis with a mega rich owner. If the rebuilding process is applied correctly, and with maturity, the club stands to gain much more in the intangibles than Al Thani does in the tangibles. The club’s vice-president, Abdullah Ghubn, was an epitome of maturity when he got straight down to the root cause of the great divide in La Liga, warning of an even greater divide opening up. “"Today people will be excited to see a Clasico, next year the same but in a few years people will get bored of this because this is a league of two clubs. Tomorrow the audience will come down and some other league will be trying to rise up. Eventually, even the two big clubs will have less money from TV rights. They have to realise that if they will not share the cake they will not get the cream", said Ghubn in an interview to Reuters before attacking the Spanish federation, “I don't think we'll see a solution soon to this issue because nobody can handle it. If you have someone who can handle this and act as a judge, a person who could say how things should be, it would be much better”. The vice-president also gave the briefest of glimpses into the vision Al Thani has for the club, saying, “We are confident we can reach our goals because we know exactly how we can be strong and what we are missing. We have many options but this year we are going to have good players we are looking for specifically according to our system. We have a plan to do something very big and very huge so our dream is not limited to one level. We have an agenda, we have a philosophy, and we have time to do something very special for this club”.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgacPtfZQ-MJn8wyfVsLIOuwOFjaIBBB2yDIusS5q5AexY5G7unaWP9Zinr1yjva1S-aLBiTieYF3HjtP1lPul35ZD8K-d0vDa5P4ZeFXfis_1fU54-y8KSFKDixnEoJOB-yeE_n7a5PNg/s1600/malaga1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="460" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgacPtfZQ-MJn8wyfVsLIOuwOFjaIBBB2yDIusS5q5AexY5G7unaWP9Zinr1yjva1S-aLBiTieYF3HjtP1lPul35ZD8K-d0vDa5P4ZeFXfis_1fU54-y8KSFKDixnEoJOB-yeE_n7a5PNg/s640/malaga1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We will soon be throwing our weight around!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The blog is quite intrigued by the last line of this quote which indicates that the club’s management is thinking in the long term, i.e. to build a club which will rival Real Madrid & Barcelona. Based on the actions of the club, the vision appears to be threefold:<br />
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Stage One, which has already begun, is to rebuild the current squad and for that the club has signed a mixture of established stars, though not stars which merit a five star pay. No one will argue the talents of VanGol, Joaquin & Baptista, yet the players themselves didn’t cost too much. If Al Thani is to be believed, the only true big billing signing this summer will probably be Santi Cazorla who will be a “gift” to all the club’s fans, as per the president’s own admission. Stage One also involves taking an effort to start marketing the club and efforts are already underway with the launch of Malaga CF TV and a revamp of the official website which is now available in both Spanish & English. There are talks of making the site available in Asian languages in future to capture the lucrative Asian market and the blog won’t be surprised to see the club do an Asian Pre-season tour in the next couple of years. Talking about pre-season, the club has also tried to take efforts to get quality pre-season fixtures. However the time to achieve that this season was quite less and the club’s fans will have to be content to watch their club take on Feyenoord and Manchester City as part of the pre season friendlies. Al Thani is also rumored to be in favor of earlier kick-off timings and like Ghubn’s interview to Reuters suggested, the club is prepared to throw its weight behind pushing the collective TV rights deal. Another faucet of marketing the club has been the club’s deal with UNESCO, which will see Malaga contributing to the cause of UNESCO and sporting UNESCO on their jerseys, thereby profiting from goodwill marketing. The effects of Stage One are already being seen with the club being beseeched with requests for 15000 season tickets, along with a request for 600 more, which were registered the day the counter opened. Al Thani has also recently secured the contract to renovate the Marbella, a place which holds a special place in the hearts of Malaguistas; an audacious project which will convert Marbella into a Dubai like marina. The blog isn’t saying anything more, just watch the video below.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rwGIDz4bH88?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rwGIDz4bH88?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object></div><br />
Stage Two in this grand plan involves eventually securing direct qualification to Europe’s premier tournament, the UEFA Champions League and in doing so; make the club capable of generating its own income. Stage Two would also require the club to make some bombastic signings which would improve the club’s standing and ability in win in Europe further. If Stage One goes as per plan, the blog is quite confident that Malaga would be in the transfer market prime time in a couple of seasons from now.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfxnFNs_EofA2EmsVEkmnClAGYdN-Sg48kOrPj0THnfKluKQvpwAcYGIhGGV_oP58h7vq5bgwXUOG3j4eZKuKqODGA27gpA7ni4DgpSeEaIJNiOuc9OyXdUYi9KtyoKbOsqJfXvwP4fc/s1600/malaga3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBfxnFNs_EofA2EmsVEkmnClAGYdN-Sg48kOrPj0THnfKluKQvpwAcYGIhGGV_oP58h7vq5bgwXUOG3j4eZKuKqODGA27gpA7ni4DgpSeEaIJNiOuc9OyXdUYi9KtyoKbOsqJfXvwP4fc/s640/malaga3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Rosaleda to ...?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In Stage Three, the president plans to hand the club a lasting legacy. Al Thani has an audacious plan to build a 65000 seater stadium (which will unsurprisingly be named after his country) making it the third biggest stadium after the Santiago Bernabeu and the Camp Nou. The president also plans to construct a prim and proper football academy for which efforts are already underway. The president has confirmed that he has purchased land measuring 120,000 square meters where he plans to build the Malaga Football Academy. This academy will include ten mini stadiums where youth talent at various levels will play. Al Thani has also appointed Antonio Fernandez – a known talent in the world of Spanish Football - as the director who will oversee the development of this academy. <br />
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With all these grand schemes already set in flow, the future seems warm for the neutrals, the fans & the Frente Bokeron (the ultras named after the sardines caught at the coast) of Malaga. Whether it will actually come to pass in the manner it has been planned remains to be seen. What do you think?</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-6077068163947769642011-06-23T09:37:00.000-07:002011-06-23T09:44:09.413-07:00Poll: Your La Liga Team Other Than The Fat Cats<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It's offseason and hence Another Prick In The Wall is looking to write a couple of special posts for clubs other than the big two. The blog needs to know which club apart from Real Madrid & Barcelona will you be rooting for in the coming La Liga season. The blog will try its best to put together a decent article about the club that wins.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Also please make sure you let the blog know your reasons for supporting the club you selected. Multiple choices are allowed in case swooning over more than one of the clubs mentioned below, but please let the blog know your reasons for all the two timing.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">NOTE: Poll ends 30th June, 2011.<br />
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<script charset="utf-8" src="http://static.polldaddy.com/p/5169199.js" type="text/javascript">
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</div><noscript></noscript></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-43523394783962914732011-06-22T12:59:00.000-07:002011-06-22T12:59:05.103-07:00A Steaming Vat of Gossip & Some Grim Reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Another Prick In The Wall loves when controversies hit center stage in La Liga. The blog felt that in all the hoolah-hoo of the transfer rumors, it has been neglecting the colorful controversies which give La Liga its distinct characteristic: Morbo. In this post, the blog has sought to report some juicy nuggets of the choicest gossip so that you can enjoy the kind of fervor for the most ridiculous and the most weird, which only the off-season can bring.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNk1FFI4fkYREphZB-C-3IYyCrV-LRniaTPpXaFJKuMR41Tx9hNqOvFVToKlDKydjFe3HPu31O93mSmiuYna-EQT6ycy6aJq9b-5rIK12eUBCCJdmtvvVw7B9lJskCLQ9NJPm70nF31RE/s1600/rossel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="392" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNk1FFI4fkYREphZB-C-3IYyCrV-LRniaTPpXaFJKuMR41Tx9hNqOvFVToKlDKydjFe3HPu31O93mSmiuYna-EQT6ycy6aJq9b-5rIK12eUBCCJdmtvvVw7B9lJskCLQ9NJPm70nF31RE/s640/rossel.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fuel The Fire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>First up, the big one: The season hasn’t even begun and the big two are already at each other’s throats. Barcelona’s Floppy wannabe president, Sandrito was quoted only few weeks back expressing surprise at the lack of recognition for Barca in spite of all their heroics on footballing’s biggest stage. May be someone needs to tell the guys at Barcelona that waxing on and on about your greatness doesn’t give anybody else room to express their own thoughts regarding the matter. Anyway, Rossel followed that intelligent comment up with a lengthy presser last week where he talked about the greatness of Barcelona and their values, namely dignity and honor, and about how Barcelona is a reference to everyone, especially children. And just when the blog thought that this was yet another piece of self-important tripe which the Barca PR department dishes out with unfailing regularity, Rossel delivered a bomb. “A media report fuelled by Real Madrid wanted to justify our team’s extraordinary sporting performances with pathetic accusations”, boomed Rossel in reference to the doping allegations, before continuing, “This season a Real Madrid employee, its coach, went beyond all the limits of necessary sporting rivalry. Surprisingly, RM’s response to our legitimate right to defend our honor was a formal complaint against eight of our players. Real Madrid did not get their way, as UEFA twice rejected their accusations. Rivalry will continue next season but we can't allow the limits of fair play to be passed again”. The blog had followed this outburst keenly, nodding its head, until Rossel reached a point where he talked about ending the “institutional relations” between the two clubs and then expressed his hope that the “President of Real Madrid will look upon this as an opportunity to revive our relations”.<br />
<a name='more'></a> Right about this time, the blog was in splits. Wanting Florentino Perez to try to revive the relations between the two clubs is like wanting Busquets to admit to “Mono Mono” and not “Mucho Morro” in the blog’s opinion and in a move which is becoming far too common and low for a club which has forever sought to paint their shady history white, Real Madrid bounced back with an official announcement. The contents of the announcement were too tedious for the blog to keep up in spite of a double shot of espresso, but the gist of it was that Floppy flicked the birdy to Rossel in a very sarcastic announcement. Targeting Rossel’s declarations about values like dignity and honor, and of Barcelona being a reference to children, the announcement said, “Real Madrid C. F. reiterates its commitment to sportsmanship and the values inherent in football, especially those regarding fair play and the unequivocal battle against racism. The club regards these as essential elements in a sport that set a valuable example for children around world.”<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jNn6oHvSjh3dktX6mTVsLKHim2tdW4n7PTD9jcvztMj7osj06vREr_Aw3Ldp1aYuKGCO6wNcVVYxCjrrQ-hfBKu4nRY2RwSBZjOR6ImlQSj2bfJLWgfl_E8X0QXonXYEEr7bj4Y54ek/s1600/porque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jNn6oHvSjh3dktX6mTVsLKHim2tdW4n7PTD9jcvztMj7osj06vREr_Aw3Ldp1aYuKGCO6wNcVVYxCjrrQ-hfBKu4nRY2RwSBZjOR6ImlQSj2bfJLWgfl_E8X0QXonXYEEr7bj4Y54ek/s640/porque.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conspiracy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Just as this ugly confrontation was about to bow its head, with unerring impeccability in timing, UEFA has announced that Barcelona will be allowed to sport logos of both, Qatar Foundation and UNICEF, on their jerseys, giving the Madrid based media yet another chance to scream conspiracy or re-quoting The Special One saying “I don’t know if it’s their association with UNICEF or…” or simply “Por Que?” However, the blog wants to point out that UNICEF isn’t a sponsor for Barcelona. Yes, they consume whatever they get via goodwill marketing as Mourinho helpfully pointed out at the close of last season, but the fact is Barcelona pay UNICEF 1.5 million Euros per year and that is why they are allowed to wear the brand on their jerseys. One person in Catalunya who’s clearly not happy with the current developments is Barca’s ex-president and current leader of the Catalan movement, Joan Laporta. There were reports early last week which seemed to suggest that Puyol, Messi, Iniesta and possibly Cesc as well as Eto’o would probably have to testify against Laporta in the trial of an unnamed player’s agent who has claimed that Laporta received cutbacks for the trips the club’s players made to Uzbekistan. Laporta has gone on record saying that he’s unconcerned about the smear campaign run by his once dear friend Sandrito. The firebrand ex-president then proceeded to express his regret at the Qatar Foundation deal, which in his opinion, is nothing more than a travesty as the Barcelona jersey was never associated with a sponsor…until Rossel walked in. What the blog feels he should’ve pointed out is that, it is because of his lavish spending in the VIP box, various cutbacks and poor deals that the club isn’t doing too great financially and hence have had to seek out jersey sponsors. Talking about Barcelona’s finances, the club’s financial bigwig Javier Faus has declared that bonuses awarded to players for their Champions League win exceeds the earnings from winning the Champions League by 4 million euros. That coupled with the little story that AS ran a few weeks back totaling Guardiola’s summer expenditure in the last two seasons to over 277 million Euros leaves the blog under no surprise that the club is in red. Talking about being in red, Messi has been left red faced after a story ran in Argentine newspaper Libre, that he spent the night at his apartment in a sex cum alcohol party with team mates Milito and Martin Palermo…and some of Argentina’s top models, TV presenters and sex party hosts. Prominent TV presenter and “host” Xoana Gonzalez was reportedly present at this party and had a “good time” with “Little Leo” as per reports. Messi’s all grown up by the look of things, but as per the blog’s reckoning, taking growth hormones disappoint. In other areas, he might well be…err…Little Leo.<br />
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The capital club isn’t free from its fair share of gossips either. Word has it that Real Madrid have approached Jean Luis Dupont, the lawyer who contested the famous Bosman Ruling in 1985, in the defence of Jose Mourinho against the five match ban imposed on him by the (supposedly) Barcelona rag tagging UEFA. As per reports, Madrid is ready to fight tooth and nail against this (supposedly) unholy alliance between Barcelona and UEFA with Dupont having to defend the club’s foul mouthed gaffer at all levels, if the need arises, even at the Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS). Marca reports that Benfica have taken offense to Fabio Coentrao’s public flirting with Real Madrid and has decided to fine the player who’s contracted to the club till 2016. Further on, Benfica has reportedly decided to complain against Real Madrid to FIFA for “tapping up” Coentrao. While the capital club’s officials have been public in expressing their desire for Coentrao, the blog feels that Benfica is merely calling Real Madrid’s bluff given the fact that most of Benfica’s team is composed of rejects from the Spanish big two and the real stars for the club are almost always poached by Madrid, with handsome compensation of course.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uq28XQPOvjQQJV8-nKoQvtb9zm9dKehvjS2xgsBZNG7xq6GTyYveRY5PNb3keg1Ngt0i3V5_NRXY6Rb9iGDlt8oiFmUX1HeNIRt_giCPSpZJ604LI3O8IztMbUDC6_g4XNEsOvnScks/s1600/moneylaliga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uq28XQPOvjQQJV8-nKoQvtb9zm9dKehvjS2xgsBZNG7xq6GTyYveRY5PNb3keg1Ngt0i3V5_NRXY6Rb9iGDlt8oiFmUX1HeNIRt_giCPSpZJ604LI3O8IztMbUDC6_g4XNEsOvnScks/s640/moneylaliga.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Liga Consursal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In a chilling revelation, famed professor of finance, Jose Maria Gay (University of Barcelona) has published a study of the state the Spanish league is in financially. As per Gay, at the end of the 2009-11 season, Sporting Gijon, Malaga CF, Real Zaragoza, Levante UD, Real Sociedad, RCD Mallorca and Hercules had been declared insolvent. Malaga has since then, been taken over by Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani and do not have to worry about insolvency. Sporting Gijon, as per their latest audits have posted a profit of 2 million Euros which is commendable given the puny stature of Gijon. Meanwhile, local businessman, Eduardo Jarque, has come forward with a proposition, acting as a mediary with funding coming from "English money", to buy Levante for 70 million euros and eliminate the 68 million euros in debt that saddles the club. Whether this proposal is accepted remains to be seen. The club has every reason to be cautious given their dire financial state, not to mention the scary precedent set by Racing’s MIA owner Ahsan Ali Syed. Racing has asked the regional government in Cantabria and their previous ownership group to step in if current head Ahsan Aly-Syed of WGA does not meet his financial commitments (13.5 million euros owed to players and a tax debt of 9 milllion euros). The government of Cantabria activated a bank guarantee after Ali Syed missed an installment last month as per reports. However Ali Syed said there was “no default” because the government received his payment via an escrow account. Santander’s Mayor Inigo de la Serna has said it appeared the regional government had been “politically negligent” by not checking Ali Syed’s finances before the sale. The regional administration has said that its contract with Ali Syed allows it to cancel his acquisition of Racing if he fails to meet further installments. <br />
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Real Zaragoza is the classic case of a heavily bankrupt Spanish club. The club has announced a stellar debt of 110 million Euros owing to the many sources they owe money to viz. 5 million to current players, 9 million to former players, 30 million in transfer fees and 1.5 million to the league. The current management has blamed relegation two seasons ago for the current state of the club. No one talked about mismanagement. Coming to the three clubs that have been promoted; Betis, Rayo Vallecano and Granada are all in various stages of administration. The current list of clubs in administration is: Real Zaragoza, Rayo Vallecano, Hercules CF, Real Betis, Cadiz, Ejido, Granada, RCD Mallorca, Recreativo Huelva, Xerez & Cordoba CF. The clubs that have only recently come out of administration is this: Sporting Gijon, Albacete, Levante UD, Las Palmas, Malaga CF, Deportivo Alaves, Celta, Real Sociedad, Real Murica & Alicante. This really puts the league in a new perspective. It is a league where the first, second and third players from the Balon D’Or list play, it is a league where seven out of the top ten players in the world play. But it is also a league with the largest number of clubs declared insolvent and undergoing administration. The farts leading the FA are not too bothered and the whimsy television rights deal is still paper talk. There are rumors that there might possibly be a strike action in the coming weeks. The old farts at the Spanish FA have declared that they will come down hard on clubs which do not pay their players. Also, players who are owed money from clubs in administration are set to get only 50% of what they are owed. With such a grim situation all round, even if the words of the Spanish FA are merely to placate fans and players, the clubs might possibly take it more seriously and put pressure on the FA to do something about this almighty mess. Only Real Madrid, Barcelona and the noveau rich like Malaga & Getafe have reason to cheer. Meanwhile, clubs like Levante UD have taken to displaying clickable advertisements on their official website in a bid to earn more money. In case you didn’t know, the amount earned by an entity per ad click is on an average 0.5 cents. This is a sorry state of affairs indeed, and the blog is appalled as it writes this.<br />
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In other news, the Atletico Madrid management board is set to vote tonight on whether Cerezo & Miguel Angel Gil should continue with management of club. This is kind of a no brainer as far as the blog is concerned given the fact that the board of seven has three members belonging to the Gil family. So in all probability, nothing is ever going to happen at Atletico until the damn board itself is taken down. To end on a positive note, La Liga’s new romantics, Malaga, have been able to sell 14000 season tickets the day their counters opened and have been besieged with requests from 600 new applicants. This was on the back of the news that owner Al Thani secured the contract to renovate the Marabella, a place which holds something special in the heart of most Andalucians. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-86744160067773545412011-06-15T09:24:00.000-07:002011-06-15T09:53:11.360-07:00Transfer Shenanigans - June 05 to June 14<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The transfer rumor mill has hit a minor lull in the last week, sometimes repackaging and churning out the same never ending transfer sagas, which have turned even more “tripey” every time they’ve gone into print once more. The blog decided to wait for more than a week to report some bombastic signings and then finally decided to go into print with whatever it has mustered up so far. It should make easy, and in parts, tedious reading depending on which club you support.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Madrid</span></strong><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmVfHD0dCXlgvPjEVoYHoFjkiy6jGipddb7I7vC4XIeF_wj-e6gK0Ln-P8xC6NwjOAjCLdz6t1mW7gjaK7Qr1PCcUY3eVhXhCbG7U56fwQmY1n8CxlxAv-wZ7VBzG9nizBGonyQUyudo/s1600/canales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmVfHD0dCXlgvPjEVoYHoFjkiy6jGipddb7I7vC4XIeF_wj-e6gK0Ln-P8xC6NwjOAjCLdz6t1mW7gjaK7Qr1PCcUY3eVhXhCbG7U56fwQmY1n8CxlxAv-wZ7VBzG9nizBGonyQUyudo/s640/canales.jpg" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Too Soon?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Real Madrid are finally in the news for selling reasons. Marca has reported that Boca Juniors are interested in signing back Gago, which the blog feels may be with a disposition of taking the black sheep back. The “done squat” midfielder’s agent pompously proclaimed that Gago is dying to go back to Boca, but it will not happen in the near future as Gago has three offers from Europe in the range of 17 million euros. Looks like Gago doesn’t and can’t have his way even when he has to be laid off. To start with, there have been rumors that it was Manchester City who had tabled the 17 million euro offer; however Mourinho, who has always had the best interests of Gago at heart, vetoed the move. Marca has continued its Mourinho worship by interpreting this decision as Mourinho wanting to erring on caution and built up the story pointing out that the outspoken coach wants to make all the signings first and then think about selling, no doubt causing the club a minor loss in the process. Possible targets to replace Gago as per Marca have included Essien from Chelsea (APTW: Impossible!), M’Vila from Rennes (APTW: Quite Possible) and Sissoko from Juventus (APTW shaking head). <br />
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Meanwhile, the future of Sergio Canales continues to hang in balance. Everton and Villarreal are said to be interested to sign the player for 15 million euros. Madrid don’t want to risk the chance of seeing Canales develop into a world class talent, which in the blog’s opinion he probably will, and then sign him for a bomb. Hence the capital club is interested to search for a loan move for the player. For his part, Canales has rejected the chance to move to Wolfsburg and Schalke on loan, but reportedly likes the Villarreal offer seeing as the Yellow Submarines would offer him a chance to play in the Champions League. However due to Madrid’s unwillingness to permanently let go and Villarreal’s unwillingness to sign the player on loan, the deal’s a tad bit complicated. Theories abound as to who will Madrid’s third striker be and Sevilla’s ever eccentric president, Del Nido has moved swiftly making a statement that in his last conversation with representatives from Madrid, he was assured that the club would not move to sign ex-canterano Alvaro Negredo, who suddenly has become a fan favorite at the Sanchez Pijuain after a strong season. Unsurprisingly, the media have taken it upon themselves to create plots within plots for this mystery signing. Aguero is just as close to signing for Madrid as he was last week, difference being even more Real Madrid players have given statements that they wouldn’t mind seeing him play at the Bernabeu. The newer development is that Brazilian starlet and dickhead combined, Neymar, is now linked with Madrid with some sources ready to swear that the deal has already been signed for a whopping 40 million euros. According to latest reports, the player and his club, Santos have denied the rumor. The blog feels that it may be a ploy by Floppy to reduce Aguero’s asking price and nothing more. But knowing Floppy, Madrid is just as likely to swoop for Neymar and create another problem for themselves, just as the club has started looking stable.<br />
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Talking about the other Madrid who have been continuously in the news in regards to Aguero’s impending transfer, brood master Diego Forlan has committed once more to the club after flirting with just about every club during the entirety of last season. According to the Golden Ball winner, last season he wasn’t right due to Quique Flores’ “personal problems” with him, but likes the new project which has kicked off at the Vicente Calderon. A new project indeed in the blog’s opinion as Atletico officially announced that Gregorio Manzano has signed a year long deal with the club as gaffer. This would be the second time Manzano has signed up with Atletico, having served as manager in their 03/04 season, and the blog wouldn’t be surprised to see him being fired for the second time by the same time, next year. The stats clearly aren’t in his favor; 39% of league matches won at Atlético by Manzano, compared to 46% by Aguirre, 50% by Resino and 43% by Quique Flores (Stats courtesy Opta). Meanwhile, Luis Garcia’s Getafe has signed Diego Castro from Sporting de Gijón on a free transfer, with a contract for the next four seasons. It has also been reported that Getafe are looking to sign Juan Rodríguez and Lopo from relegated Deportivo la Coruna. As far as outgoings are concerned, it seems that Getafe’s Derek Boateng would be soon plying his trade at Ukrainian club, Dnipro. The deal is rumored to be around 6 million euros.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Catalunya</span></strong><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1cS8f6Zvjb4nwJ_JEpLINY0Z3kHc70fogm0Sy-beCJIFAhOndhhdDwlpFuhnM0_EoUiTuPsby8hL0Lm52vwADEfO5mw1SMX56TMnP2BVeY_PrE0IEZC1sYgyuEB-G1yUwOQX9VqA58U/s1600/vazquez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1cS8f6Zvjb4nwJ_JEpLINY0Z3kHc70fogm0Sy-beCJIFAhOndhhdDwlpFuhnM0_EoUiTuPsby8hL0Lm52vwADEfO5mw1SMX56TMnP2BVeY_PrE0IEZC1sYgyuEB-G1yUwOQX9VqA58U/s640/vazquez.jpg" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brrrr to Brugge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Like Real Madrid, Barcelona too are in the news for selling reasons more than buying reasons. While the yearly Cesc transfer saga is rife, Sport.es claims that Sevilla, Real Betis, Racing Santander and Zaragoza are all interested in securing the services of Barcelona B midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos. The club is not ill disposed to a sale however; they would like a buy back option. Surprisingly the Madrid dailies have been claiming that Barcelona are not interested in selling their youth starlet Thiago, but the Catalan dailies have implied that he’s sell bait in order to raise money for more illustrious signings (read undoubtedly as one of Cesc or Alexis Sanchez). Talking about Sanchez, AS reports that Barcelona are looking at A. Greizmann from Sociedad as a plan B in case they fail to sign Sanchez. Barcelona B player Jonathan Soriano is rumored to be included in a cash plus player deal as the player’s 30 million euro buyout clause has been deemed too expensive by the guys at Barcelona. Glass man Victor Vazquez has left Barcelona to join Bruges in the hope that a change in location could bring a change in fortune to his injury ridden career and disgruntled Bojan has been rumored to be interested in being part of Luis Enrique’s project at AS Roma. Luis Enrique has been busy trying to build his own Barcelona in Roma and is currently set to lock horns with his previous clubs in securing the signature of Sporting Gijon’s fullback Jose Angel. El Mundo Deportivo has reported that Barcelona are also interested in Jose Enrique, the Newcastle United fullback in case the deal with Jose Angel falls through. Meanwhile, Hercules winger Kiko Femenia is no closer to signing up with Barcelona. Earlier reports suggested that a deal had been struck, but latest reports seem to suggest that the deal may have fallen through. Barcelona B looks set to be taken over by Busquets Sr., the current goalkeeping coach of the Barcelona first team. Apparently, Zubizarreta, Sporting Director for Barcelona has convinced Daddy Busquets to take over the slot which Luis Enrique recently vacated.<br />
<br />
At Espanyol, things seem to be going a tad wrong at the top. President Daniel Sanchez Llibre has announced that he will be stepping down this coming July. Vice President Ramon Condal looks like the most likely candidate to take over. How this change affects the fortunes of Espanyol remains to be seen. The blog doesn’t have much hope. In order to boost their backline, Espanyol are rumored to be interested in Hector Moreno, who plies his trade at AZ Alkmaar. The club is looking to cash in by selling Osvaldo and is looking for suitors who will offer the most. The last this blog heard, Espanyol had rejected a 17 million euro offer from Atletico Madrid for the player. The blog doubts if they can get any more for Osvaldo, with no disrespect to the player of course.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Andalusia</span></strong><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrujiDMNu_H2ydtC0C9tFSV-Fj6gH2I1SdYrCKtgS4VPkZPfDlTTg_P79pLPJJ0ElzYjHSx4Jqmj9RerudZUh9JoPnpMXqZ-MWVdJlV5wxhZ28lvYkxjLWaM7MjOGdc08Iu3P-OnKEt8/s1600/Marcelino-Garc%25C3%25ADa-Toral-Sevilla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrujiDMNu_H2ydtC0C9tFSV-Fj6gH2I1SdYrCKtgS4VPkZPfDlTTg_P79pLPJJ0ElzYjHSx4Jqmj9RerudZUh9JoPnpMXqZ-MWVdJlV5wxhZ28lvYkxjLWaM7MjOGdc08Iu3P-OnKEt8/s640/Marcelino-Garc%25C3%25ADa-Toral-Sevilla.jpg" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Success or Juande Dollars?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sevilla have confirmed the appointment of Marcelino Toral as coach. Marcelino who quit Racing frustrated at the lack of commitments from MIA owner Rashed Ali Syed, set a realistic bar by expressing his desire to emulate Juande Ramos’ exploits at the club. The blog feels that the fans will be torn between wanting to wring their arms at the low expectations set and throwing down Juande Dollars from the high stands of the Sanchez Pijuain. Malaga, after yet another quickfire signing in left back Nacho Monreal from Osasuna for 6 million euros, have now secured the future of their promising youngsters, Recio, Juanmi and Portillo (not THAT one!) till 2015. Buyout clauses run upto 15 million euros per player reportedly. There has been still no word on Joaquin moving clubs, though it has been understood that a 3.5 million euro offer has been submitted to Valencia who are holding out for 5 million. As a plan B, Malaga have reportedly sent representatives to Argentina to analyze the feasibility of prizing away playmaker Ricky Alvarez from Velez. The influential midfielder is also rumored to be on the radars of Manchester United and Arsenal.<br />
<br />
In their bid to consolidate Primera status at the end of next season, freshly promoted Real Betis have completed the signings of Mario from Getafe and Javi Chica from Espanyol for 2 and 4 years respectively. Both are free transfers.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Valencia</span></strong><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqi4TtSa8oB7KreqI6OsGyuu4rO1lfE3i_zK236XqOi0vk-GUeQW1rv05Pug_fCK8q0riH9zW5bV5xLQvodHLxUgLL_p6R3t7xGbrCJDXPQd-92pHiLgW7lZIiSxDSNWD4dm1voSLCTeM/s1600/valencia_signings.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqi4TtSa8oB7KreqI6OsGyuu4rO1lfE3i_zK236XqOi0vk-GUeQW1rv05Pug_fCK8q0riH9zW5bV5xLQvodHLxUgLL_p6R3t7xGbrCJDXPQd-92pHiLgW7lZIiSxDSNWD4dm1voSLCTeM/s640/valencia_signings.png" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fichado!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Levante have swiftly solved their coaching concerns by announcing Ignacio Martinez as their new manager. Martinez until now had been coaching FC Cartagena in the Segunda, guiding them to a 13th place finish and is looked upon as a promising manager in the Segunda. At Valencia the cogs are turning faster to secure the defensive signings, viz. a center back and a left back, which Unai Emery had promised after renewing his contract with the club. Catalan daily El Mundo Deportivo reports that Valencia might be interested in securing the services of Barcelona’s left back Maxwell. The blog feels that this might just be a farcical build up given the fact that Barcelona are themselves in the market for a left back. Abidal isn’t getting any younger and just out of battle against cancer, would probably not be relied upon as much by the Catalan club next season. Maxwell has had decent outings for Barcelona, but Guardiola hasn’t really trusted him in the big ones, preferring to play Puyol or Renato in that slot instead which explains the theory EMD are building up. Valencia have instead announced the signing of French defender Adil Rami who has joined the club till 2014, from Lille for 6 million euros. In a weird transfer saga, Lorient’s Kevin Gameiro was very close to signing for Valencia, but at the last moment decided to sign up with Paris St. Germain, a French club. Laurent Blanc has reportedly been responsible for throwing a spanner in the works as far as Valencia are concerned, by advising Gameiro to ply his trade in France itself. While they’ve been undergoing all sorts of transfer related faux pas, Valencia have at least managed to secure the services of Getafe’s Dani Parejo for 5 years and a reported 7 million euro deal. Parejo who was only recently being linked to a move back to Real Madrid is reported to carry a buyback clause by Real which enables them to sign the player back for 18 million euros next season and for 15 million in two years. The blog doesn’t quite believe this rumor, but knowing how far Madrid’s tentacles reach, it yet wouldn’t be disposed to put this lil bit of news past them. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile Villarreal’s Giuseppi Rossi is as close to signing for Barcelona as he was last week. The difference this time is that it has been reported that Barcelona would probably sign back Botia and then immediately offer him to Villarreal in a cash plus player deal. This rumor might well be hogwash as the deadline for Barcelona to exercise their buyback clause has already elapsed by the blog’s reckoning. Villarreal’s defensive midfielder Marcos Senna might be on his way to Wales to Swansea of all places after Swansea’s manager Brendan Rogers reportedly met him and convinced him to leave. Seeing as he’s bench fodder currently, Senna wouldn’t actually mind leaving Sunny Spain for the Welsh charm. If he indeed does move, it would be a Bosman transfer.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Galicia</span></strong><br />
<br />
Deportivo La Coruna’s Andres Guardado is reportedly up for sale for around 8 million euros. Valencia and Portuguese clubs Benfica and Sporting Lisbon are the ones rumored to be interested in securing the player’s services.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Basque Country</span></strong><br />
<br />
Osasuna has announced the signing of Marc Bertran Vilanova till 2014 with a 6 million euro buyback clause. Bertran, an Espanyol canterano up until now was playing for Tenerife who fell further from Segunda to Segunda B, leaving the player no choice but to part ways. <br />
<br />
Real Sociedad who sacked Martin Lasarte as soon as last season concluded have announced the signing of Philippe Montanier from Ligue 1 club Valenciennes for 5 million euros. Montanier becomes Sociedad’s 8th manager in 5 years…and they blame Real Madrid for changing managers like panties.<br />
<br />
So, that’s the transfer roundup till now. For more updates, be sure to check the <a href="http://anotherprickinduhwall.blogspot.com/2011/06/la-liga-transfer-news-live-blog.html">transfer liveblog </a>and let the blog know in case you hear anything new.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0Mumbai, Maharashtra, India19.0176147 72.85616440000001118.826811199999998 72.7533269 19.2084182 72.959001900000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-3458868274013766302011-06-06T11:14:00.000-07:002011-06-06T11:19:23.770-07:00Transfer Shenanigans - May 29 to Jun 06<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The season is now well and truly over and the Transfer Rumor engine has already notched up a gear in the last week. Another Prick In The Wall was expecting a sudden outburst of crazy rumors, but what the blog hadn’t prepared for was the number of confirmed signings this early in the transfer window, which is actually quite good given the fact that teams that wind up their transfer business sooner get more time to prepare and gel in the pre-season. The blog fully expects the two leagues – One between Real Madrid and Barcelona and the other between the rest of the teams – to pan out with cut throat competition between opposing teams.<br />
<br />
So without much ado, let's look at all the crazy transfer allegations and confirmed news touted by media all over the world during the last week as per each Spanish province...<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Madrid</span></strong><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyjEVw4ru3ajTaRWDKzGQpNnYL_GF18hhYdYNlBWUsrehwyk7CjW7954BZBdDmIDOqoNjvQf89P3DpAUITB2vYoVU3MMDhwvqJp5PwypD2LK_oKeRcrfjEA1NVjmL5binlLylwVrFp_7Q/s1600/real_transfer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyjEVw4ru3ajTaRWDKzGQpNnYL_GF18hhYdYNlBWUsrehwyk7CjW7954BZBdDmIDOqoNjvQf89P3DpAUITB2vYoVU3MMDhwvqJp5PwypD2LK_oKeRcrfjEA1NVjmL5binlLylwVrFp_7Q/s640/real_transfer.png" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Usual Suspects</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unsurprisingly, leading the charge in the transfer market is Real Madrid. The blog wonders if displaying the same intensity in the league as that in the transfer market could help the club winning a Liga title. After the quick fire acquisitions of Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop from Germany, the capital club is now rumored to be close to signing Fabio Coentrao and Kun Aguero from Benfica and Atletico Madrid respectively.<br />
<a name='more'></a> Apparently, Mourinho is "quite satisfied" with the reinforcements so far and had a meeting with Floppy to discus outgoings, which in the blog’s opinion is a smart opinion as the club is already over the 25 player limit. Mourinho has reportedly made it clear that he wants Coentrao and sees him as a top player who can play in several positions and even fill the hole left with Lass' imminent departure. The blog feels that this is a gross overreaction from the Madrid gaffer who seems to want to turn Real Madrid into a peace pact between Portugal and Turkey. One person who’s clearly not happy with the couple of new signings is the ever pouting Lassana Diarra. Both Mourinho and Florentino reportedly talked with Lass, who’s adamant about leaving. There have been rumors of Benfica and Juventus interested in securing his services, and hence he wants to do the run seeing as he probably won’t get adequate playing time with the arrival of Sahin and with Khedira and Xabi Alonso already ahead of him in the pecking order. As part of the yearly summer clearout, Pedro Leon & Canales have reportedly met up with Madrid’s three stooges Mourinho, Floppy and Zidane. The ex-Getafe winger has been told to pack his bags and leave as he’s no longer in the club’s plans (The blog wonders at this point if he ever was), whereas the club wants to hold on to Canales, but send him on loan. Schalke have reportedly tabled a loan offer for Canales, but the player himself wants to stay in Spain. Villarreal and Valencia are understood to be interested in him, but for a permanent offer. The blog feels that if push comes to shove, Madrid may end up selling Canales to either of the two clubs with the famed buy back option.<br />
<br />
The biggest news regarding Real Madrid is that Real Madrid is interested in securing the services of Eduardo Inda as the Director of Communication at the club. Inda, until recently, was the editor of Madrid’s looniest rag, Marca. Given this fact, the blog can’t help but wonder how low the club can drop to next season on the Spout-The-Potty meter. From Mou-bytes to Mounda-bytes. Sheesh, onward to the next club…<br />
<br />
Erring Atletico Madrid are finally in the news for the right reasons. After yet another disastrous season prior to which the club made hash out of yet another transfer window, Atletico have taken pre-emptive action this summer by firing Jesus Garcia Pitarch as the Sporting Director. Former Atletico player, Jose Caminero has taken over this vacant spot in the hope that he can bring light to the Rojablancos. It has also been rumored that Atletico were in contact with unemployed Rafael Benitez who, after his stint with Liverpool which ended in disaster, has not been able to find a club to his liking. The blog feels that the rumors linking him to the Madrid club are probably unfounded seeing as Benitez has issued a “Come Get Me” plea in a press conference stating that he would like to coach an English club side. Meanwhile, Joaquin Caparros, currently coaching Athletic Bilbao has also been linked to the Atletico job. The blog cannot imagine where Caparros’ aims and Atletico’s project coincide, especially since Atletico can currently offer nothing more to Caparros which Athletic cannot, and the latter have a better and more organized team than Atletico currently does. Coming back to Atletico, the club has confirmed that Rennes’ right back Rod Fanni has joined the club in a three year deal which cost them five million euros. This news comes on back of yet another full back related rumor, that of Atletico being interested in Fenerbahce’s Andre Santos, which probably would not come to fruition now. Atletico have also secured permanent services of Eduardo Silva after Benfica has forgone the option to get the player back.<br />
<br />
At Getafe, Michel’s sacking has been well received. But the better received news is that Luis Garcia, who was the architect of Levante’s miracle season, has signed up for the club for three years. Levante have made a nifty million euros in buyout clause as part of this deal.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Catalunya</span></strong><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoC8G7_x9UThyphenhyphenMY_9M623Jc1ChEJByN4ID6gFJ8scmcNhM1JHdMwnhLK6YCdGWz30BYLoi-X1UicDv4xMJvQumphIonxqRRkf3foEwYAxmnGDqsI0GWoHp6h_nOZVyaU1tFnt62Q2ELcQ/s1600/barca_transfer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoC8G7_x9UThyphenhyphenMY_9M623Jc1ChEJByN4ID6gFJ8scmcNhM1JHdMwnhLK6YCdGWz30BYLoi-X1UicDv4xMJvQumphIonxqRRkf3foEwYAxmnGDqsI0GWoHp6h_nOZVyaU1tFnt62Q2ELcQ/s640/barca_transfer.png" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yet Another Cesc Wringing Summer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Down in Catalunya, Barcelona’s staff and players still haven’t got out of a triumphant season’s hangover and have continued with the self-important trash talk. A triumphant Gerard Piqué, post Sunday’s celebrations, drooled, “We don’t do doping, nor do we dive or buy the referees. Barcelona only do one thing: play football”. The blog feels that the quote would have some real comic value had it been Dani Alves saying it, but it seems that the club’s PR department is doing a good job by giving the right guys the right quotes. For instance, Xavi, who had yet another feather in his cap (of not having a single foul called against him in any of the matches in UCL this season), tut-tutted, “It was disappointing to see how such a good team like Madrid adapted totally to the opponent. United lost with their head up high”. Moving on to the boardroom where the top brass take all the shady decisions, it seemed as if Barca were close to signing Jose Angel from Sporting Gijon for 4.5 million euros, however the negotiations have since then, broken down. There has been no news of getting back acclaimed Catalan centre-back Alberto Botia from Gijon, so looks like Gijon will get him for keeps. Instead it has been rumored that Barcelona are more interested in seeing if they can prize away AC Milan’s center back Thiago Silva who has had an absolutely fantastic breakthrough season, for around 25 million euros. Knowing how the two Milan clubs are habituated to ripping off Barcelona in the transfer market, the blog fully expects this deal (if it goes through) to be a cash plus player deal involving the said 25 million and a couple of players. Maxwell is rumored to be included, but the blog wouldn’t bet against Bojan being put on the selling platter as well. Meanwhile, the Catalan dailies report that Barcelona are very close to signing Kiko Femenia from Hercules. Some crazy rumors from the Madrid based media seem to suggest that Barcelona's priorities for the summer transfer market are Cesc (Arsenal), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), and Alexis Sanchez (Udinese) and Barcelona are willing to listen to offers for Milito, Jeffren, Bojan and Thiago, if that’s what it would take to fund the transfers.<br />
<br />
According to reports in Italy, Luis Enrique is very close to being the coach for AS Roma. Enrique has been juggling the little problem of “Atletico or Roma” for quite some time and in between debating if he should have recently retired Perico, Ivan De La Pena join his coaching staff at whichever club he moves to. The blog would very much like to see Enrique remaining at Barcelona and trying to get De La Pena to serve on his staff. The Barca fan boys may just abandon the youth academy in disgust. Talking about the Pericos, Espanyol reportedly have 45 million euros in their transfer kitty to add on to their mildly successful season. That apart, the club is looking to offload David Garcia, Javi Chica, Ivan Alonso and Aldo Duscher. The blog wonders if 45 million plus the pittance they’ll get from the probable sale of the said players would be enough to rebuild in the summer and get in good replacements.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Andalusia</span></strong><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jPruPvqDxCLrlDOijgCxWPCnJvXDvXsO2oRAR5AG4sLvPDRzcQWQ89QoAQbDrAb-SbLpYEZ2nCPw6IcGDmZKShqqzMwXs2LdRV1wQVOTZJbPaCNiEycsKCcohXv4l64cORCKv3zeWHw/s1600/malaga.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jPruPvqDxCLrlDOijgCxWPCnJvXDvXsO2oRAR5AG4sLvPDRzcQWQ89QoAQbDrAb-SbLpYEZ2nCPw6IcGDmZKShqqzMwXs2LdRV1wQVOTZJbPaCNiEycsKCcohXv4l64cORCKv3zeWHw/s640/malaga.png" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A club in Resurgence...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Down in Andalusia, Marcelino Garcia Toral of Racing Santander and Chile’s ex-coach Marcelo Bielsa are being linked with the coaching job at Sevilla. The blog for its life, cannot understand why Sevilla want to sign Marcelino seeing as he’s been an accomplished second division coach and a failure in Primera. The aims of the club and the reputation that precedes Marcelino could not be more diverse. Having Bielsa at Sevilla though is a prospect that the blog is really looking forward to. For starters, the team would probably start playing some attractive, attacking football that they’ve generally been associated with. But what’s got the blog’s interest hitting alarmingly dangerous levels is the prospect of seeing Mourinho and Bielsa slug it out against each other in a tripe spouting contest every weekend, through the press. Meanwhile, Renato has left Sevilla to play for Botafogo in his native Brazil in a three year deal. Sevilla have also relieved themselves of the services of Didier Zokora, who has joined Trabzonspor for five million euros. The summer clearout might just be completed once they manage to find a home for Romaric, the club hopping midfielder who would probably be looking for company to indulge in his nightlife now given that Zokora has already left. Sevilla have able replacements for the two castaways in Medel and Rakitic, both signed in the last season’s winter transfer window and are looking to bolster the squad after having exercised the option to permanently sign Martin Caceres who is on loan from Barcelona. After completing the signings of Trochowski and Manu del Moral in addition to Caceres, Sevilla have signed right back Coke from Rayo Vallecano. Coke’s deal with Sevilla runs till 2015 and the 24 year old has a 15 million buyout clause.<br />
<br />
The blog’s latest darling club Malaga have finally secured the services of free agent Ruud Van Nistelrooy who was presented before a club record 15000 strong crowd. The club has also reportedly concluded negotiations with Marseille for Lucho Gonzalez who is expected to join Malaga for 12 million euros. Jeremy Toulalan is also reportedly in Spain to wind up his signing with Malaga. Joaquin, the injury ridden Valencia player has reportedly agreed terms with Malaga and will earn 2.2 million euros per year. The only thing that remains is a bargain to be struck between Malaga and Valencia. From what is undersood, Valencia want 5-6 million for the player but would agree if they’re paid four. Malaga meanwhile, are playing hardball, not wanting to pay more than 2.5 million euros. Some crazy rumors have suggested that Malaga have bid around 35 million euros for Palermo’s Pastore. The president of Palermo, who values Pastore at 50 million has scoffed at this news and denied that there has been any offer from Malaga. Malaga’s transfer juggernaut has nevertheless seemed to roll on with them being reportedly interested in Osasuna’s Nacho Monreal, though the reported 8 million seem excessive to the buying club. Malaga have also struck a pact with UNESCO as part of the “Imagine Peace” movement and would be sporting UNESCO on their jerseys in the coming years. <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/unesco_and_malaga_football_club_team_up_to_imagine_peace/">More about it here</a>.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Valencia</span></strong><br />
<br />
Valencia CF have confirmed the signing of Diego Alves from Almeria who will serve as backup to Vicente Guaita who has renewed his contract with Valencia till 2015. Valencia’s Cesar, who became surplus to requirements after Diego Alves signed on, has moved to cross town rivals Villarreal in a one year deal after which he’d probably hang up his boots for good. Valencia are reportedly interested in securing the services of Dani Parejo from Getafe. A fee in the region of 7 million euros has been mentioned and this rumor might just turn out to be true given the fact that Real have conveyed to Getafe that they are not interested in invoking the 5 million buyback clause for Parejo. So an additional 2 million for the capital club and no one’s the wiser, in the blog’s opinion.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KZkGguNYTCR1xZU1EYWOxuuIym97mqAa3SZAsZCPMn3Gmkih7ib_HHG_63GN70xlzL140x2itS2GnewqKnGD2bqTcycjL-upG2FjyrxKZPrU6wUwjbxmvOiYoxrDJwFYc9XINnDjKao/s1600/levante.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KZkGguNYTCR1xZU1EYWOxuuIym97mqAa3SZAsZCPMn3Gmkih7ib_HHG_63GN70xlzL140x2itS2GnewqKnGD2bqTcycjL-upG2FjyrxKZPrU6wUwjbxmvOiYoxrDJwFYc9XINnDjKao/s640/levante.jpg" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 Euro</td></tr>
</tbody></table>After making 1 million euros from the contract settlement of coach Luis Garcia, Levante have utilized that money in securing the permanent services of Caceido who has signed on for 3 years with a buyout clause of 10 million euros. A number of clubs namely, Sevilla, Atletico, Villarreal and Valencia are reportedly interested in signing Caceido and Levante would no doubt love a bidding war leading to the sale of the player, making a healthy profit in the process which they can then utilize to secure other areas. For a club that operates on an year ly income which is lesser than Messi’s salary, a transfer fee of around 13 million would mean that Levante would be relatively in a much secure position compared to last year.<br />
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There has been no news of any confirmed signings coming out of Villarreal, however, Villarreal’s Damian Escudero has expressed his desire to join Boca Juniors and would probably be laid off.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">The Others</span></strong><br />
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Down in <strong>Basque Country</strong>, which is probably the calmest region in Spain due to its inactivity in the transfer market (owing to the philosophy of a strong bias for Basque players), the only news is that Osasuna have signed Mallorca’s center back Ruben. Meanwhile in the <strong>Balearic Islands</strong>, Michael Laudrup seemed optimistic about the coming season as he quipped, “I intend to honor my contract with Mallorca. The club is better prepared at planning for the coming season. Last season, things didn’t turn out as expected because everything was done in haste”.<br />
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In <strong>Galicia</strong>, freshly relegated Deportivo La Coruna have announced that Jose Luis Oltra will take over as the coach, while the club’s goal scoring goalkeeper, Dani Aranzubia has committed to the club provided an offer doesn’t come along. Duh, if an offer doesn’t come along, everyone’s committed yeah?<br />
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Until the next gossip filed column goes into print, you can check out the <a href="http://anotherprickinduhwall.blogspot.com/2011/06/la-liga-transfer-news-live-blog.html">transfer liveblog</a> set up by Another Prick In The Wall, which will undoubtedly leave you with an euphoric of revolting feeling depending on what news you just read and the club you support.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-91569197183756675332011-06-04T10:02:00.001-07:002011-06-04T11:33:30.845-07:00La Liga Transfer News Live Blog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div align="left">In order to keep up with the Transfer Rumor Engine in over drive, Another Prick In The Wall brings you the Transfer News Liveblog, courtesy CoverItLive. The live blog has incorporated some of the most established tweeters from the world of La Liga who will bring you steady, continuous and reliable updates on everything that is going to go on in La Liga this summer.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">So simply hit the Play button and remember, La Liga News is just a button click away...</div><div align="left"></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="550" scrolling="no" src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=73356ca941/height=550/width=470" width="470"></iframe></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-61050741090471707402011-05-29T12:30:00.000-07:002011-05-29T12:32:11.061-07:00Of Champions, Whiners & Transfers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyA0eS7LTri6A-4JktmM9mfwQf1yq-YALFPzq4kqLgSwDJWw7Hoc1V1K_x3BEdTjonc2LvYPbmgXweBDsLWqtBoTqI425ApSLQpSE9H-bX-rT6TrcYoEx1kLzHX6Jw1K7wbDw_NVWOZc/s1600/porque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyA0eS7LTri6A-4JktmM9mfwQf1yq-YALFPzq4kqLgSwDJWw7Hoc1V1K_x3BEdTjonc2LvYPbmgXweBDsLWqtBoTqI425ApSLQpSE9H-bX-rT6TrcYoEx1kLzHX6Jw1K7wbDw_NVWOZc/s640/porque.jpg" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mou, what is it like watching us on TV? Why?</td></tr>
</tbody></table> The big news of the week is obviously Barcelona winning its fourth, and pointedly, Spain’s 13th UEFA Champions League title – with some style. Of course, the Spanish flags were markedly missing in the post match celebrations which is quite saddening to see given the fact that even players like Pedro, Villa, who are not Catalans, did not wave the country’s flags, either by choice or because they were told not to. The blog obviously suspects the latter. Facing an ageing United squad who looked more interested in the little nuances of the opposite team’s game play than closing the damn attackers down, Barca ran riot. Following a criminal mistake in leaving Xavi with time and space to pick out Pedro who scored his first UEFA Champions League final goal, United equalized through the huff and puff of Rooney and a little whiz of a pass from Giggs, but then allowed Messi to score a special goal and failed to close down Villa who curled one to the top right corner of Van der Saar, finally killing the tie. In a record breaking season, Barcelona still has not managed to break one record: In all of their UEFA Champions League finals, none of the goals have been scored by Catalans. So much for all the self-importance. The blog feels that it should totally do away with reporting anything out of the Catalan dailies for the next two weeks given the same revolting tripe of the self-important 20 year old Barca philosophy, the famed La Masia, et al that they will continue to churn, recycle and then churn out once more.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Moving on to more colorful matters, the blog finds it mildly interesting that Mourinho’s famed “Por Que” was sung high and loud at Trafalgar Square in London and then in Wembley, over and over again…by Barca fans. Imagine getting to the Champions League final and having to spur your team on by chanting a phrase made famous by your rivals. Barca’s strange fixation with anything Madrid related is rivaled only by Mourinho’s fixation with Barcelona. In this season’s last address to the press Mourinho charted his hope that football next season would be fair, free of controversies and racism, in a pointed barb directed towards the club from Catalunya. In a similar vein, Mr. Trash Talk Cruyff’s weekly column before the UCL final was quite illuminating. He went on to suggest that Pep Guardiola might quit Barcelona after winning the European championship just as Mourinho did with Inter. “But, in any case Mourinho would be different in every way”, says the tripe spouting Dutch legend before going on to add, “Guardiola has courage to make a lot of sensible decisions, like dropping Eto’o from the squad and getting in Ibrahamovic and after realizing it was a mistake, dropping Ibrahamovic and buying Villa”, a piece of logic which, for the sake of Busquets’ face clutching antics the blog cannot make any sense of. Cruyff also strove to throw light on the reason behind Manchester United making it to the UEFA Champions League final, “Without the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, the other players have become stronger players because they felt more responsible and wanted to prove that they don’t depend only on a champion”, a sentiment which is echoed by some of the Barca players as well namely Dani Alves, Pedro and David Villa who seem to disregard the fact that by the stats their club is the one that is most dependent on a single individual. The Castillian Andres Iniesta chose to distance himself from this logic defying logic, while Gerard Pique chose to humor the journo hacks by saying, “They say he (Cristiano) is arrogant, but I remember him as friendly and fun. Yes, it is difficult to resist the mirror, but he’s a good guy”. The blog’s respect for Pique has grown a teensy weensy bit. Talking about humor, United’s official website recorded a gaffe by quoting Arsenal midfielder Jack Wishere (yes the one who ran Xavi and Iniesta ragged in one match) who seemed to suggest that Barcelona are very persuasive and know how to influence the referee during a match. The blog only assumes that Wilshere has been reading too much of Jose Mourinho when he said, “Everyone saw how they tried to deceive the referee during the match against Real Madrid, but trying to convince the referee to be on their side while making decisions is more serious”. On another note, do not be surprised if AS or Marca run a story linking Wilshere with Real Madrid in the coming days after trying to perceive his Anti-Barca and Pro-Real comments as a “Come, Buy Me” plea.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxqDvrZvPHSRDOEpAC61mK2WhQDJypgMKU2Bg4Sc8Mcw9A_c7uSHMF1xeSItIike7eWzfb_E4OJ5mTv_ov4rYjcYfsXs54tLTKkixqjWNr-8PRitUahHazZ5goJliaC05ZLphHo6v_wc/s1600/mounager.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxqDvrZvPHSRDOEpAC61mK2WhQDJypgMKU2Bg4Sc8Mcw9A_c7uSHMF1xeSItIike7eWzfb_E4OJ5mTv_ov4rYjcYfsXs54tLTKkixqjWNr-8PRitUahHazZ5goJliaC05ZLphHo6v_wc/s400/mounager.jpg" t8="true" width="292" /></a></div>Moving on to the league in general, two things happened which the blog was sure would happen and not entirely happy when they actually came to pass. Deportivo La Coruna became the third club to be relegated to the Segunda, forever dooming the tag name “Super” to depths unknown. After a sustained stint in the Primera which saw them punch above their belts by reaching the semi finals of the UCL defeating illustrious opponents like Milan in one of the most memorable two legged ties ever, losing the league title on the last day to Valencia whose players were bought by Barcelona (to win of course, which meant that Barcelona would win the league title, and not Depor), defeat heavyweights like Real Madrid and Barcelona, host a 18 year long voodoo curse for Real Madrid at their home ground, and winning a couple of silverware in the form of a league title and a Copa Del Rey. The blog, though saddened, knew that it was just a matter of time. The cancer was already there since 2005 and it was steadily spreading. However no efforts were taken to stem it and Plunk, vanished the stone to the bottom of the ocean. While Depor was simply relegated, Jorge Valdano was instead sacked from the Madrid management team. Following a meeting with the entire board, Floppy announced the Valdano is no longer the General Manager of Real Madrid and the vacant post would also be handled by Mourinho, who would be both, the coaching and the press front for the club henceforth. This makes Mourinho the first Madrid coach to yield such unheard of power. Valdano himself announced in a semi-emotional presser that he doesn’t know the reason for his fallout with Jose Mourinho, but for his part, he had taken all efforts to bridge the gap, even if it meant that he hadn’t spoken personally with Mourinho for quite some time. As expected this sent Marca into a whole different level of dizziness in anticipation of all the forthcoming Mou-Bytes, with their word play engine proclaiming Mourinho as “General Mounager” on their front cover. The blog expects Madrid to stoop even lower with all their recriminations and complaints now that Mourinho is the official spokesperson for the club.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0iZ0ePms5mdsrredhRbaz_N5OJGPqScdHIJXFceQfGSj6HlvLztSWIy-ul1D2U_nVQqzzq_Bibpwwc8WvFr8YJb_jO1vR4tJyKlKba_SgX6s7_P0PABBFN6qyGIjhuQvCUwByCejyfUU/s1600/aguero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0iZ0ePms5mdsrredhRbaz_N5OJGPqScdHIJXFceQfGSj6HlvLztSWIy-ul1D2U_nVQqzzq_Bibpwwc8WvFr8YJb_jO1vR4tJyKlKba_SgX6s7_P0PABBFN6qyGIjhuQvCUwByCejyfUU/s640/aguero.jpg" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It is Time!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The transfer rumor mill has obviously been busy in recent weeks and with Kun Augero’s publicized decision to leave Atletico Madrid, it has been in overdrive. Marca reports that as feared initially, Aguero’s buyout clause of 45 million would not calculate down to 60 million effectively if he were to sign for a Spanish club. This means that any Spanish club having 45 million euros can afford the crack snorting Argentine’s son-in-law. The blog obviously believes that “any Spanish club” means either Real Madrid or Barcelona since apart from the big two no other club can raise that kind of money. Atletico could, but they are the ones selling the player, Valencia are paupers and need all the money they can save; Villarreal could’ve raised that kind of money but they are more concerned with other clubs wanting to prise away some of their more established talents. As reported by the blog earlier, Malaga are interested in Villarreal’s Capdevilla and Santi Cazorla. While the former is getting on in age and in the form of a last salvo, would be interested in helping his former coach, Manuel Pellegrini, Cazorla looks likely to stay put as Malaga cannot offer him what Villarreal currently can; an European berth. Meanwhile, Napoli seem to have submitted a formal bid for the Submarines’ midfield general Borja Valero in the region of 10 million euros. The blog feels that it’s a tad under-priced and Villarreal may eventually end up retaining most of their squad, unlike in previous years where they had to helplessly see better clubs poach their talent, and let go of Rossi who’s linked to Barcelona. Rossi certainly won’t go for cheap, and the Yellow Submarines can use the money to bolster their squad for the upcoming season.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgci0HfJp-WfOq-bIJPEyVKEBa_2nK8NfB8BC9i9AMEY42WJlGJXaO7GwH77kbx731gkXysNRgOhV4ys2c5F5DuI2k9hGIpvYsrF7D1SYXykUqIxbs03I7bNnG_69xq0l14jW7qXzhmd0/s1600/superdepor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgci0HfJp-WfOq-bIJPEyVKEBa_2nK8NfB8BC9i9AMEY42WJlGJXaO7GwH77kbx731gkXysNRgOhV4ys2c5F5DuI2k9hGIpvYsrF7D1SYXykUqIxbs03I7bNnG_69xq0l14jW7qXzhmd0/s640/superdepor.jpg" t8="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last vestige of a Golden Past</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Malaga are the club to watch out this summer in the blog’s opinion. Just as they were being linked to Ruud Van Nistelrooy who wants to return to La Liga before hanging up his boots, news coming out of France seems to indicate that thanks to Arab money, Malaga have submitted a big in the region of 15 million euros for Marseilla starlet Lucho Gonzalez. Depor’s Adrian has reportedly signed on for Atletico Madrid. Adrian’s contract will expire this summer, so technically Atletico have signed the player before his contract officially expired. Consequently, Deportivo has invoked Article 18 of the agreement between the LFP and the AFE which entitles them to some compensation, which they claim should be in the region of 5 million euros.. The blog feels that nothing of that sort would happen, but Atletico would probably pay a token amount to Depor in order to aoid some media fuelled ruckus. Meanwhile Zaragoza’s Gabi is strongly linked to Atletico Madrid with the deal likely involving Pablo Assuncao moving the other way to Real Zaragoza. Assuncao has larely warmed the bench at the Vicente Calderon and would certainly love to play on the pitch for a change, even if it meant there were fewer fans in the stands. While all the flurry of signings are on at the Vicente Calderon, David de Gea leaving for Man United for example, the club still hasn’t decided who would coach them next season. Earlier rumors of Luis Enrique signing up as Atletico coach have now been dismissed, the blog can’t help but feel that this would be yet another season where Madrid’s second club makes a right hash out of the summer. Meanwhile, Diego Castro has moved away from Sporting Gijon to Getafe in the hope that Getafe’s campaign next season may be slightly better than Gijon’s was this season. Espanyol have confirmed the signings of Juan Albin from Getafe and Adrian Luna of Defensor Sporting, which would probably land them in a better position to push forward for European slots next season. Mallorca have confirmed the transfer of Ruben Gonzalez from Osasuna. Sporting have secured the permanent services of Miguel De La Cuevas on whom Atletico had a purchase option but decided to forgo it, preferring Gabi instead. Valencia has successfully renewed Unai Emery’s contract. The jubiliant coach instead strove to win over the belligerent fans by choosing to focus on the positives; 39 goals scored by Soldado and Aduriz together in their first season as compared to Villa and Silva’s 38 in their last season. Emery stressed that the team is attacked focused, but needs balance and continuity. The latter would not doubt be now provided by Emery, but the blog’s waiting for Valencia’s move for some defensive signings in the transfer market this summer.<br />
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In other news, relegated club Almeria stayed true to their promise and posted a video on their site of 15 crucial refereeing errors which, according to them, ensured that the club was relegated. Unsurprisingly, the Catalan media had a field day with this suggesting that Mourinho has started a wrong trend in La Liga (with his 13 point list some months ago), while the Madrid based fans instead, after dissecting the video concluded that one of Real’s legitimate goal and a legitimate penalty call against Almeria were conveniently missing in the video and took to screaming “Villarato” all over again. With all the screaming going on, State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport, held in the Sports Council, agreed to propose fines of 3,500 Euros to CA Osasuna and Malaga for shortcomings in the control measures and evacuation of spectators and for failing to stop the pitch invasion by fans at the end of their matches against Barcelona and Villarreal respectively. The curious case of rudely interrupting ball boys was lost somewhere down the line, which would again be a topic for controversy in the blog’s not so honest opinion. Meanwhile the controversial Segio Ballesteros is at the eye of yet another storm, whipped up when he gesticulated clutching his genitals in Levante’s match against Valencia. Ballesteros has since then clarified that the gesture wasn’t meant as an offense to anyone, but rather as a gesture to president Quico Catalan of his team having shown guts, or the cojones to fight back after being looked upon as dead, and to show support for coach Luis Garcia. While the blog believes that the Luis Garcia should have his contract extended, even the coach would feel uncomfortable after being likened to a crotch clutching sign, even though the intentions were good.<br />
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With the season now officially over, the blog would require assistance to help update its readers of all the news that the endless transfer rumor mill churns out. This is where you come into the picture. If there’s anything that you may have heard or believe, please hit the comments button and let us know. The blog shall incorporate it when it next goes to print.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-4167055750991644652011-05-17T14:19:00.000-07:002011-05-18T08:53:32.158-07:00La Liga : The End is Here<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSY0IybCuGk3vJyPi7z75bEeU1WSfq4ENLzvEVdJxOQr4zZBfkm3DrxHMPnPX7jcWXr8ZMR_db8LLmHej9thU8xGUYX8CdRMQuJTVVfP74k6Mej_qoyNP6BSgX-oSgmyMhZYQbRp4trW4/s1600/messi1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSY0IybCuGk3vJyPi7z75bEeU1WSfq4ENLzvEVdJxOQr4zZBfkm3DrxHMPnPX7jcWXr8ZMR_db8LLmHej9thU8xGUYX8CdRMQuJTVVfP74k6Mej_qoyNP6BSgX-oSgmyMhZYQbRp4trW4/s640/messi1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guilty?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Now that the wave of self-importance in Catalunya has worn out somewhat, Another Prick In The Wall got a chance to look at some news bytes emanating from Catalunya. The general media perception is still that of coming out a binge-drinking induced hangover though. The headline news reports how the crew of the airplane that Barca travelled in post their league victory had to tell off the players to celebrate in a more civilized manner. Little whiz Messi got a telling off from a stewardess who apparently was quite ticked off seeing that Messi did the same thing to the emergency exit what Ronaldo did to the poor spectator in row 1 of the Bernabeu, i.e. break it. The blog doubts if she got a free Messi jersey in return. In Catalunya, they have yet another reason to celebrate as UEFA overturned its investigation into Busquets’ racial slur at Marcelo with the verdict “Not Guilty” citing a “lack of strong and convincing evidence” in Busquets’ defence. While people at AS have got their knickers in a twsit around their ankles given UEFA’s latest Barca related allegiance as they called it, Real Madrid was not too pleased. To start with UEFA overturned the result in Barcelona’s favor and to add salt to injury, the notice from UEFA claimed that Madrid’s complaint has been dealt with. This prompted the capital club to release an official notice stating that they were not the ones who had officially complained about Busquets’ racial slur but had instead complained about the unsporting behavior of the Barcelona players which was rejected and then again appealed against and again opened and yada yada. Ahh, the madness. And then in a move to substantiate their case, the club’s site had various players claiming that they were glad that Busquets was going to play in Wembley but were quite sad that their gaffer had to bear all the injustice. The blog sympathizes with the poor soul that is Mourinho. Fiery brand Pepe stayed true to his word claiming that Busquets walked scot-free inspite of an obvious insult while Arbeloa did a Xavi by saying that he had no preference about the impending UCL final winner seeing as he didn’t have friends at either club. The blog suspects that the journo hack who asked that question got exactly what he wanted to hear. After all, Arbeloa is a Real Madrid product who learnt his trade at the professional level in Liverpool. Oh, the Rivalry!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLJkLTnIU79-7rD0HRUkJZJt6QyHB8jLbc9xqCCwFH1K9eTYNHtd3NjLQ0SnOfNHpIo61DIiHgvaGPIQRxJyeFYzCuhVouRxJkVTixf4evG0rwZ7rjQ1S93PTHWhNpE0MkDBd3tFDxEs/s1600/shirtdesigner_graphic.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLJkLTnIU79-7rD0HRUkJZJt6QyHB8jLbc9xqCCwFH1K9eTYNHtd3NjLQ0SnOfNHpIo61DIiHgvaGPIQRxJyeFYzCuhVouRxJkVTixf4evG0rwZ7rjQ1S93PTHWhNpE0MkDBd3tFDxEs/s400/shirtdesigner_graphic.png" width="377" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Puto Amo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Sport.es has indulged in a nifty side business advertising t-shirts for sale with the caption “The F*****g Boss is at The Camp, not in the Press Room”. These t-shirts were advertised right next to an article which reminded the users that Barcelona’s deal with UNICEF is still on and displayed Barcelona’s 2011-12 jersey with its backside, displaying the UNICEF logo added as a footnote, and totally forgetting to show the readers the front side, thereby trying to salvage whatever’s left of the moral high horse. In one of the columns Cruyff babbled on about Barcelona’s philosophy starting from Rexach to Rijkaard and now to Guardiola. Given the same kind of overbearing and condescending articles from legend turned looney Cruyff, the blog feels that instead of indulging in permutations and combinations with the paragraphs, Cruyff should do away with the farce of writing columns just as UEFA should do away with its farcical “Kick Racism Out of Football” campaign. The big news of this week is Sport taking up on itself to respond to Mourinho’s claims about conspiracies by posting a video of former Portuguese referee Paixao Jacinto who confesses to having rigged matches for Porto in 2003; the implication being that Mourinho has indulged in his fair share of influencing authorities. Of course, there has been no mention of that video from the Madrid based media. Porto, only recently being acquitted in the Golden Whistle campaign, has obviously denied having done anything of this sort; with a fair bit of scorn too.<br />
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While all these insinuations and infractions are rife, the fate of Real Madrid Director General Jorge Valdano has been a hotly contested topic. Small surprise then that the Madrid and Barca based media is divided on the fate of Valdano. The capital based press has been cooing about Floppy's support to the beleaguered Argentine while the Catalan press has been making the most of the well publicized fallout between Mourinho and Valdano and shouting "Kill Kill" in much the same way the depraved audience once sang at the Coliseum in Rome. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulHZdwRX_69fqcs2YMK2z6YrXIVCjdgRTNHgyUpZDFfIC-nBZp1GFx9N8aIB9kijznIw5_vhQS6oUg8_YK6OZzQev504Epa3tTMA39_aCNGabPcH8MKUTzpaXHBn-PMHPTkEjuy79YKE/s1600/1305558962598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="398" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulHZdwRX_69fqcs2YMK2z6YrXIVCjdgRTNHgyUpZDFfIC-nBZp1GFx9N8aIB9kijznIw5_vhQS6oUg8_YK6OZzQev504Epa3tTMA39_aCNGabPcH8MKUTzpaXHBn-PMHPTkEjuy79YKE/s640/1305558962598.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stomp, Shove, Card</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In these troubled days when Mourinho gets a five match ban for a sarcastic thumbs up sign to the fourth official, there has been no news of Villarreal’s Cani receiving any kind of ban for shoving linesman Fermin Martinez in the clash against Real Madrid after the latter mistakenly stomped on Cani’s foot while giving him a piece of his mind. Villarreal not being bothered with any of this nonsense looks instead to prise Cesar Sanchez from Valencia on a free to serve as backup to Diego Lopez. Not keen to seek the not so green pastures of Segunda, Almeria goalkeeper Diego Alves is set to move to Valencia after Guaita’s occasional uninspiring performances rendering Sanchez surplus to requirements. Meanwhile Valencia president Llorente has called an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the contract renewal of coach Unai Emery for one more year. The poker faced gaffer is not held in high esteem by the Valencia fans for Valencia’s impotent showing in big matches, though the blog feels that he’s actually done a splendid job given the resources afforded to him. Talking about coaches, there has been no mention at all about Pellegrini from Marca lately, which is not surprising given the fact that Malaga are 9th in the table as opposed to 19th at the time he took over. The blog feels that the engineer could do with a smirk or two directed at Marca but he's way too classy for that kind of indulgence, unlike Marca love toy Jose Mourinho who has done a Spanish version of Ferguson boycotting the press entirely these days.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZRrCo5kvP0AnytOjIVRTWX16X9iIFC3pSEPcU5GZ2peKlyh_T9FjeyadXVUl1k5U7R73-Fpv8hcmdGasHyISJDSp6R3iezDMVoO85fqdYozpCLwbVkTBdU9Sftf5Fvc2ckufyG_89XE/s1600/AD20110512249942-3-Indian%252520entrepre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZRrCo5kvP0AnytOjIVRTWX16X9iIFC3pSEPcU5GZ2peKlyh_T9FjeyadXVUl1k5U7R73-Fpv8hcmdGasHyISJDSp6R3iezDMVoO85fqdYozpCLwbVkTBdU9Sftf5Fvc2ckufyG_89XE/s640/AD20110512249942-3-Indian%252520entrepre.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fist Pumping Owner, Wrist Wringing Fans</td></tr>
</tbody></table>At Racing Santander, the cloud has grown darker still as coach Marcelino has announced his plans to wait and listen to Rashed Ali Syed’s plans for the club before committing himself. This is a task in itself since not much has been heard from the fist pumping Ali who’s lately done an Ali Baba by being conspicuous through his absence at the club.<br />
<br />
The battle for relegation and Europa League slots has intensified in La Liga with just 1 game remaining. Technically one of six teams, Real Zaragoza (42 Pts.), Deportivo (44 Pts.), Getafe (44 Pts.), Osasuna (44 Pts.), Real Sociedad (44 Pts.), Real Mallorca (44 Pts.), will get relegated this coming weekend. What this means is that with just one game to go, relegation prime contenders Zaragoza travel to Valencia to take on League paupers in terms of money and millionaires at heart, Levante. Snooze masters Deportivo host Valencia at the Riazor in what would most probably be an ill-tempered clash given the history between the two clubs which goes back to 1994 when Djukic's missed penalty for Deportivo in injury time meant that Valencia clinched the title. This time round, neither club is fighting for the title, but Depor is fighting to stay up and the blog trusts Valencia who have nothing to play for, to still try their best in spoiling Depor's party. At Anoeta a relegation classic looks to be battled out as Real Sociedad play Getafe. La Real need just a point to save themselves from the ignominy of a trip back to the Segunda while Getafe need a win, as a draw would see Getafe relying on the other fixtures to prevent their half-empty stadium from turning up totally empty on match days. Down in Pamplona, Osasuna host Villarreal who again have nothing to play for, having cemented fourth position in the table. The real joke is on Mallorca who a few weeks ago celebrated having reached the all-important total of 42 when they believed that they would not get relegated. Now, however relegation seems like a distinct possibility, even more so because their final match of the season is against Atletico Madrid (led by the departing Quique Flores) who are chasing a Europa League berth. Atletico is tied on points with Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao. Manzano's side travels to Catalunya to take on Espanyol, who after spending more than half a season chasing European slots finally fell out of grace by due of injuries and fatigue and now languishing 8th, four points adrift of European slots, having nothing to play for. Athletic Bilbao travel to El Sardinero to take on Racing Santander who again have nothing to play for. So by the look of things, it's make or break for either Mallorca or Atletico Madrid, from different perspectives of course.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-284150284493006722011-05-13T10:55:00.000-07:002011-05-13T11:05:07.534-07:00The War is won, but Skrimishes are On<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9uIOIeF7wf-ulMmY4qrVTW23uVxYcrncHag1aaIz7feMmJSkGBeDGLza8aL7KSg5nVT9zpNwz3A9YGKMiEwcwdn3u1L_4-tB9mHK4XSlEs3EmqighHuZpPbyq8vI6JYzJDxLCgunQ-w/s1600/img1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="434" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9uIOIeF7wf-ulMmY4qrVTW23uVxYcrncHag1aaIz7feMmJSkGBeDGLza8aL7KSg5nVT9zpNwz3A9YGKMiEwcwdn3u1L_4-tB9mHK4XSlEs3EmqighHuZpPbyq8vI6JYzJDxLCgunQ-w/s640/img1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Campions - 2010/2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table>First of all, the blog would like to apologize to its readers for the relative period of inactivity; don’t they clash with the clasicos especially when Barca wins? No doubt more than few readers would be smelling a conspiracy theory; in case you did not know smelling a conspiracy theory in anything related to the Clasicos is the IN thing these days. However, Another Prick In The Wall solemnly assures its readers that there’s none of those shady dealings going on here; suffice to say the writer was just busy all this while.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Anyway, now that the ugly miniseries is finally over, this blog can focus on other colorful aspects of the Spanish league. As far as footballing matters go, Barca have won their third in a row and twenty first over all league with two games to spare. Media reports emanating from the self important smug wave down in Catalunya strive to drive home one point: Football won. Well as if the blog hasn’t heard that enough. So with conscious effort APTW has decided to skip over the soddy, happy tear stained reports from Catalunya pausing only to congratulate Barcelona for their victory over Real Madrid. It does take a consistent team to win a league, but given the state the Spanish La Liga is in with its two dog affair, credit has to be given to Barcelona for not mucking up 3-4 games more than Real Madrid.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5KCiT6pbzFPMGa4z7SyDOEeV01vLWszHi44YWQ13wWZ_GwbQj38y_k_ICXDFaCVD3ikr1HEk1lHotzsv9aIkrWssYEscegU2ygyZkPNyqL6nHPRrTlQ4Ie5iCxbqImA3TEzhNF6v6hs/s1600/img4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5KCiT6pbzFPMGa4z7SyDOEeV01vLWszHi44YWQ13wWZ_GwbQj38y_k_ICXDFaCVD3ikr1HEk1lHotzsv9aIkrWssYEscegU2ygyZkPNyqL6nHPRrTlQ4Ie5iCxbqImA3TEzhNF6v6hs/s640/img4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3rd in a Row, 9th in 3 Years</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The capital club, having to watch the league trophy do a runaway bride with Barcelona for yet another season chose to still go ahead with celebrations, but with the bridesmaid - the cosmetically enhanced Copa Del Rey - coincidentally, on the same day that Barcelona decided to do their traditional parade. Being forced to act out a farcical charade was very evident with the Real Madrid players given the fact that they are not as good at acting as the Barcelona ‘uns and especially because the parade to the Cibeles was already played out the night they actually won the trophy. Talking about trophies, Guardiola’s team has now won 9 trophies in 3 years already eclipsing the overrated Dream Team which won the same number, but in seven years. The ever so modest philosopher commented that the current team is still not as good as the dream team. The blog wonders if that is because the Dream Team featured a Guardiola with a hairy scalp in the center of the pitch and the current team features him on the sidelines sans the hair.<br />
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While all the smugness is rife in Catalunya, the Madrid based media are trying to make the most out of a significant piece of news released from Platini’s dark corner. Barca’s pet has allegedly decided to take Oscar Nominee Sergio Busquets to task over an alleged racial abuse on Real Madrid full back Marcelo, based upon a video footage released by Madrid and Marcelo’s confirmation to the same. If proved guilty, Busquets stands a chance of getting banned for five games and missing the Champions League final in Wembley. The ever so honest Busquets has proclaimed his innocence in all this saying that the footage caught him telling Marcelo “Mucho Morro” (You’ve got some nerve) and not “Mono Mono” (Monkey Monkey) as alleged by the dark forces of Mordor. The blog would actually be inclined to believe this version had it not been for the slinky way in which Busquets covered his mouth to tell Marcelo that he’s got some nerve. Ahh well, since the blog feels that it’s intelligence levels have been challenged to the extreme, it’s better to move on to the next hotpot. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjInJ1AT2gmov-j1n4vUHfnBt6kZeRNJsrMxZU8NE_6k1mwJzq62AlRxXSIO_m08mGlifb8OXAw0A9u7rszMs-itRdahk7RpCQHk0kkNYBIuoijvuNs4SgzoMr0AD_7v4OALw0LJwDf9Y/s1600/img3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjInJ1AT2gmov-j1n4vUHfnBt6kZeRNJsrMxZU8NE_6k1mwJzq62AlRxXSIO_m08mGlifb8OXAw0A9u7rszMs-itRdahk7RpCQHk0kkNYBIuoijvuNs4SgzoMr0AD_7v4OALw0LJwDf9Y/s400/img3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"You've got some nerve!"...Seriously?!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>.<br />
Hotpot is indeed the word seeing as in these final few days when club managements and fans alike, go to any extent to support their teams just so that they get those extra points which can guarantee them an European berth or avoid them being relegated, the fans of Sporting Gijon have turned to a novel idea. Four renowned “actresses” who have made their name in the lucrative pornographic industry decided to endorse Sporting Gijon. The resulting video did give the blog some kicks. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiSNRQpG5KI">Watch it here</a>. None of this booty is waiting for poor Royston Drenthe who has been turned into the prime villian for Hercules downfall (literally) by the erring Hercules president Vincent Botella. Hercules fans revolted against the Hercules team this midweek after the team’s dismal showing confirming an exit to Segunda. While Botella’s actions are a bit justified given the fact that Drenthe isn’t a permanent player at Hercules, the blog just can’t seem to fathom how Drenthe is to be blamed after being one of the standout players for Hercules, until the cash flow stopped that is. Way back in the winter following Drenthe’s dressing room revolt over non-payment of his wages, Botella commented that others are also not getting paid and yet they haven’t revolted. If this was some kind of “proof” to vindicate his claim that Drenthe was wrong in revolting for not being paid, then the blog feels that Botella needs to do a quick trip to the best psychiatric ward in Alicante.<br />
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Things aren’t too bright in Madrid as well. Discounting the polluted weather to which all the suits in the city contribute, Madrid’s other half is positively fuming about Quique Sanchez Flores who by the look of things made his final address to the press, trying (and failing) to clarify the Forlan issue. Fans feel it has come a bit too late seeing as Forlan is off on a Turkish adventure in Besiktas joining former rivals Guti and Rijkaard. Which is exactly why Atletico president Enrique Cerezo has signed Luis Enrique giving Flores the boot. Real Madrid fans would be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of seeing Luis Enrique having to lose from the sidelines seeing as Atletico habitually rolls over for the capital’s biggest club year on year. However, this shock move of Cerezo, Atletico’s yin, has been largely well received in Madrid. However, the Atletico’s yang, Angel Gil Marin has reportedly refused an offer from an American investment company to purchase the 56% of stake he owns at the clubs. Fans have longed to see the back of Gil Marin for time immortal, but have once again been thwarted by the leprechaunic genius.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8P8c8TBCV83zx7ID3aLdwYq_Ll1gQXvrXDjelos1dYyLDXKWgeDWjbiRZ9MeZ4k5YVrftcZSGXJ_83_vEAP0ttb6R6gxibvRk-Gh72itfs6z5gOQtduyivqRhIHN1cb4gzISW3C0OaU/s1600/img4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8P8c8TBCV83zx7ID3aLdwYq_Ll1gQXvrXDjelos1dYyLDXKWgeDWjbiRZ9MeZ4k5YVrftcZSGXJ_83_vEAP0ttb6R6gxibvRk-Gh72itfs6z5gOQtduyivqRhIHN1cb4gzISW3C0OaU/s640/img4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Turk too many?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Down at the dark gates of Mordor, everyone is finally coming to terms with the fact that they are not going to win anything this season except the trophy which they already dropped and broke, especially self proclaimed biggest Madridista in the world Alfaro Relano brooding in his blog that the ugliness of the clasico was nobody’s fault really and everyone’s fault at the same time and that everyone should take efforts to make it a spectacle for football and not the ugliness that the four matches were associated with. Fine sentiments really, but way out of the line given it was Relano writing. Meanwhile, transfer speculations are rife in Madrid. Nuri Sahin has officially signed for Real Madrid from the coming season giving news dailies like Marca, AS and even the club’s official website premature orgasms. AS has built up a couple of cases; one being that Real are going to sign yet another Turk in Hamit Altintop and follow it up with signing Fabio Coentrao from Benfica; giving Lady Gago, Pedro Leon, Lassana Diarra and Granero the boot in the process. The other truly laughable case builds up on the recently concluded luncheon between Perez and Juventus CEO Beppe Marotta and suggests that the two clubs are looking for a mega swap deal involving Chiellini, Melo & Amauri swapping shores with Benzema and Higuain. While the three players match the description of the kind The Special One prefers (in being “useless in front of goal” and “thugs away from the goal”), it is unlikely that even Mourinho would want to do away with the entirety of Real Madrid’s forward line. The Catalan dailies meanwhile, after their futile attempts at getting Llorente to sign for Barca in the winter, are trying to keep up with the news that Villarreal’s Rossi would be interested in joining Barcelona.<br />
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With all this sensational news making the rounds, there still has been time to reflect on the relegation battle, so much so in fact that the number crunchers at AS have come up with a number: 3,486,784,401 possible combinations for relegation. What this means is that technically nine teams: Zaragoza, Getafe, Deportivo, Sporting, Real Sociedad, Levante & Osasuna stand to be relegated in the coming two weeks. Almeria and Hercules are confirmed slinkers, but 1 slot is open for the aforementioned nine teams to slink away in shame. Given this fact, club managers are running about in paranoia; offering ridiculously low priced tickets to fans in the coming two weeks so that they can cheer their teams for promotion. After all, Spain is the only place in the world where even global powerhouse clubs have to appeal to the fans to come and support them.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-48736394852658585892011-04-29T22:56:00.000-07:002011-04-29T22:56:33.910-07:00A Match that No One Wanted...Or Won - Part II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNrN7eA4CSzxkCD-StPwoj5KKhC_DwuOYnh-iV3SIplM52OybiiiWqIC_arfXVkIKSgxMCW9t2HSowQygPhH0CPq-DrCC6d87VgMc6OuZUHV0o6U5AExN-uedokvbyYBs4Fu5Jlr56Do/s1600/img1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNrN7eA4CSzxkCD-StPwoj5KKhC_DwuOYnh-iV3SIplM52OybiiiWqIC_arfXVkIKSgxMCW9t2HSowQygPhH0CPq-DrCC6d87VgMc6OuZUHV0o6U5AExN-uedokvbyYBs4Fu5Jlr56Do/s640/img1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There is certainly no Love left anymore</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
To read the first part of this article which discusses the talking points (or the lack of talking points) in the UEFA Champions League semi-final 1st leg between Real Madrid and Barcelona, <a href="http://anotherprickinduhwall.blogspot.com/2011/04/match-that-no-one-wantedor-won.html#more">click here</a>. <br />
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A lot of things have been called into say since the match ended; for example Mourinho’s defensive tactics playing at home. Mourinho has never cared for that particular aspect, except the final result, and to be fair, Another Prick In The Wall would consider any tactics laid down by either Guardiola or Mourinho as the words from the Gospel, given their glittering resumes. There’s nothing to suggest that had the red card not changed the course of the match, Mourinho’s team would not have won 1-0. The question here is that of taste, and the blog feels that Madridistas worldwide should not moan considering they knew what their club had signed up for when they hired Mourinho.<br />
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The blog is more interested in the shambolic aftermath of this match, which had Mourinho complaining about the referee (what’s new?), going so far as to suggest that Barcelona might be getting an unfair amount of bias from UEFA, terming it as the scandal of the Bernabeu. While this is as farfetched as hoping for Ibrahamovic to score in a big match, APTW puts forth a theory that the real winner in all this mess might just be Michel Platini. To build up the conspiracy theory perpetrated by Mourinho; Michel Platini is a self confessed Barcelona fan. His admiration for the “Barcelona model” is publicized and well known and is in line with his vision of the Financial Fair Play policy (Oh, for one second, please ignore the fact that Barcelona too have spent over 700 million in the same time it took Real Madrid to blow a 1000). So it makes logical sense for Platini to discreetly hand out little Easter eggs to Barcelona in terms of refereeing errors in their favor, so that they can go on and win the big one. “Football triumphed”, as those self obsessed guys in Barcelona would put it and “Financial Fair Play is the correct way to run football as it is also successful” would be Platini’s mantra. Pity, that it doesn’t work that way in reality and APTW doesn't believe that it would ever work this way. However Mourinho did open a can of worms when he left a delicate question hanging as to why Barcelona is the team that manages to play against 10 men on such a consistent basis, year on year. Objectively, it is a question worth pondering about, for the neutral, and Real and Barca fan alike. The answer however may not be the same for any of them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0LVT2bQRtrDoufp8ssOEt2VxO2zKK_EOiu0NLAUXd-yYJpoe8zfcjleI5-pca4sCVUKT8F_xXpLaT2ZCNyB7gUxxGS670jps1csTJRQOBqYotjlKHAUk2kCUtYuNXoxrj9aF5ZGKsDSk/s1600/img2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0LVT2bQRtrDoufp8ssOEt2VxO2zKK_EOiu0NLAUXd-yYJpoe8zfcjleI5-pca4sCVUKT8F_xXpLaT2ZCNyB7gUxxGS670jps1csTJRQOBqYotjlKHAUk2kCUtYuNXoxrj9aF5ZGKsDSk/s640/img2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only moment of brilliance in a haphazard match</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
If you thought that the match was shambolic and a downright deregatory affair, the things that have unfolded over the past couple of days have been sicker. Mourinho's delicate question of "Why?" has different answers, most of them which the Barcelona management will not like, which is precisely why the tetchy Rossel management decided to report Mourinho to UEFA and threaten the coach with legal discourse. Barcelona's scandal ridden ex-president Joan Laporta might have talked out of his ass most times in the media, but what he did have was a cunning which enabled him to prevent Barcelona sinking to the depths of pettiness in such a situation. Under Laporta, Barcelona built an image of being humile, modest and skilled guardians of football who wanted no controversy. Under Rossel, where the club management is just itching to report everyone for defamation if they so much as claim that roses dont grow in Barcelona, Barcelona is undoing what they worked so hard to build. Perhaps this is also clear to Guardiola, when he remarked that he will not respond to Mourinho in the press room and if Barcelona wanted someone to, they could hire another coach. In all the melley of various, stronger comments, perhaps this most important of them all was forgotten. It can imply that Guardiola isn't exactly on best terms with the management who might be pressurizing him into doing something that he doesn't really like.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqlTPiSeKOKTw4pXLX_uEGJvVcmCC4dwxsFvg8gd8XVNtL1gfAOQ2-CEct_1-HOHdrmYLGogvxyxD52BH5ntGgTtTgQfMmBy3M2hCFKd__n4PkGKB8FVb0wW4bS8X5PgQJKFr2HMdBHQc/s1600/img4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqlTPiSeKOKTw4pXLX_uEGJvVcmCC4dwxsFvg8gd8XVNtL1gfAOQ2-CEct_1-HOHdrmYLGogvxyxD52BH5ntGgTtTgQfMmBy3M2hCFKd__n4PkGKB8FVb0wW4bS8X5PgQJKFr2HMdBHQc/s640/img4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The return of Anarchy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>A similar situation exists at Madrid and had already blown its course even before the clasico series began. Real Madrid are obsessed with white, they want it to symbolize everything that the club is about. White. Pure. As they say in Spanish, "White Liquid in a bottle has to be milk". However there is nothing pure about it; it is a carefully built image, an affiliation to be portrayed as the burgeois. Mourinho is the right antithesis of these values. And so it was that Mourinho appealed for support from the club last year, prompting his public spat with Valdano. After a few uneasy weeks, the club decided to back him up in full, and in face of the current adversity the management is even more in support of Mourinho, totally unbecoming a club like Real. Following Barcelona's formal complaint to UEFA, Real Madrid launched its own formal complaint asking for action against the drama troupe that visited their stadium on the day of the match. When push comes to shove, Real Madrid are a club who are masters at using the media to suit their need and their marketing department has been busy flooding the ether with video and pictorial evidence of how Barcelona managed to worm its way through a scandal of epic proportions. In return, Barcelona have remarked that they take offence to Real Madrid's "strategic use of media in portraying things selectively" and no doubt Real Madrid will again respond to this again...what an almighty mess. APTW is reminded of a couple of alley tom cats squabbling over who gets the female cat living inside the house across the street. Worth fighting for, but unrealistic, pointless and uneeded.<br />
<br />
In Madrid, in today's date, fans are patronizing about Barcelona. They'll laugh off a Cule's claim of the moral high ground acknowledging that the team they have is great, but that is about it. They are fans who will not hesitate to appreciate a truly brilliant effort, even if it comes from their worst rival. In that mess of the match, most of the incensed Madrid supporters took time to applaud the efforts of Messi who scored a brilliant second goal before reverting back to whistling the ref and the Barcelona team into eternity. However at Barcelona, there is a stark contrast to this particular trait. At Barcelona it is a norm to hate Madrid first, and love Barcelona second. Players and managers are aware and are bred in this philosophy. This is where Guardiola stands out as an exception. If it was not for Guardiola being Catalan and the success he had with the team as player and now manager, he would've been cast off as a black sheep by now by the Barcelona faithful. These are the same set of fans who ask every new, foreign signing if they have learnt Catalan. Mascherano was utterly bemused when he was posed with this question. There have been players who never learnt Catalan at the time of joining, but were instant fan favorites because apart from knowing Catalan, the fans think that their player should hate Madrid. So Cruyff renounced Madrid as Franco's team, Luis Enrique too renounced Madrid as some version of Mordor after his defection to Barcelona and they are hailed as instant favorites. The eccentric Rossel management has taken things further this time. Some of their points on agenda in their formal complaint to the UEFA - like their indignation at not having Catalan being broadcast on the PA system at the Bernabeu (Catalan has never been broadcast at the ESB; It has always been either Spanish or English) with themselves distinctly avoiding anything Spanish over the years, or their complaint about missile throwing when they have been responsible for throwing pig heads, knives and the likes, or their offence to pitch invasion, which was actually a harmless kid you could be forgiven for thinking of as Marcelo's cousin - are not even laughable; not because they are glaringly childish, but because they smack of a distinct case of a small town club, totally unfitting the stature of a club like Barcelona. What makes it worse is Real Madrid playing upto this and responding.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxtdMbyEtF0XYCtebFAYa0q0gJUarpphdYEa-vpusN-hXlBiBiaJCKArmrFghUvmSppRjvfr0u7-sMSRdQT2n5sWfytHPgx1iA0kfDGu0auovjNufdDwOcqGl_Fcao2pdAGnuwDGft3sQ/s1600/img5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxtdMbyEtF0XYCtebFAYa0q0gJUarpphdYEa-vpusN-hXlBiBiaJCKArmrFghUvmSppRjvfr0u7-sMSRdQT2n5sWfytHPgx1iA0kfDGu0auovjNufdDwOcqGl_Fcao2pdAGnuwDGft3sQ/s400/img5.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>The two clubs, stalwarts of football in their own right, with their carefully cultivated charisma and their long standing obsession for their image and the football they play, are now playing a differnet game, dragging their crap through dirt, not quite realizing that when you throw stones into a dirt pit, you end up getting muddy as well. With all the mud being splashed all around, few seem to have given attention to Sergio Busquet's racial slur on Marcelo, calling him "Mono" (monkey) cheekily with hands around his mouth in an attempt to prevent anyone from knowing it. An incident as blatant as this should have made headlines with the despicable act being punished profoundly; however there is not even a mention of the act anywhere as everyone is now caught up with the bigger scheme of things.<br />
<br />
Cruyff famously remarked before the first of the four matches was played, “Guardiola only needs to win two out of the four matches”. Turns out, Barcelona wanted to win just one match. And it wasn’t even on the pitch.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-58369402892972716262011-04-29T09:19:00.000-07:002011-04-30T07:28:44.524-07:00A Match that No One Wanted...Or Won - Part I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmv5_oOK5dr4CqX0GdCkv2qOZ5Xw1g0qDdCw7Bu-VuD9wwwUw24FZKL51RxnvHKKWExlInUVKdNCVf90SgoySOrpc7GiwKzcRXT2SDJ3CUkqltNQUK-KVdwLebdoVcaAbXpRen9871XQA/s1600/img1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="518" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmv5_oOK5dr4CqX0GdCkv2qOZ5Xw1g0qDdCw7Bu-VuD9wwwUw24FZKL51RxnvHKKWExlInUVKdNCVf90SgoySOrpc7GiwKzcRXT2SDJ3CUkqltNQUK-KVdwLebdoVcaAbXpRen9871XQA/s640/img1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Los Putos Amos</td></tr>
</tbody></table><b><span style="font-size: large;">Prologue</span></b><br />
<br />
Way back in early 2011, when Real Madrid & Barcelona both made it to the finals of the Copa Del Rey, the world was already frothing at its mouth with the prospect of seeing the two biggest institutions, wickedly termed as “Cantera y Cartera” going head to head in April, twice, in a matter of four days. A Real Madrid vs Barcelona encounter was, has always been a victory for the beautiful game. Not just because of the amount of crowd it pulls in worldwide but simply because any of the matches played between these two sides usually have 2-3 players in the reckoning for the Balon D’Or (now FIFA World Player of the Year) award taking each other on. This season almost the entire elite list of 10 players was going to take the field for this match, twice over. A collection of stars, no a galaxy of superstars, all on that odd square of green, ready to battle it out for the game. Then in the UCL, Real Madrid dispatched Lyon & Tottenham Hotspurs imposing their character in this tournament and earning the favorites tag; Barcelona made it against Arsenal under controversial circumstances, dispatched Shakhtar with utter dominance over two legs to set up a titanic two legged semi final; Real Madrid facing Barcelona two more times. Fixture creators in La Liga strive to ensure that the two Real Madrid vs Barcelona league matches often have enough time between them simply because of the nature of the match, and its general aftermath. So, more often than not, it is the second El Clasico that generally decides the title, given how much of a two horse race the league is. Yet while the league encounters were kept pole apart, some weird quirk of destiny ruled that Real and Barca would be now playing each other four times in just under 3 weeks. And if the world was frothing at its mouth earlier, now it was positively drooling. Everyone wanted to have a piece of the action, be a part of the great movement, be associated with the mother of all encounters; four times over. So it started; players and managers steering clear of making any untoward statements that might be misinterpreted, reading bland one liners respecting their opponent, undoubtedly handed to them by their respective club’s PR departments.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b><span style="font-size: large;">Wrestling meets Drama</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>There were some who believed, or rather hoped, that each tournament that the clubs were squaring off in would be taken, prepared for, and executed one by one. However, APTW amongst other smarter ‘uns, felt that no matter the quality of professionals playing for and running the club, the four encounters would simply fuse into one miniseries, epic in proportion, which would render the tournament trophies to be won utterly pointless. These four matches were going to define the season for both teams. Irrespective of whether the teams won any silverware, whoever came top over the four matches would be the real winner, the one whose season was successful. So it began, first with the league encounter and then the Copa Del Rey final. In the first match the world saw, to quote The Joker, “an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object”. The fans cheered. In the second match they saw the immovable object move and stop the unstoppable force. The fans were delirious. And so it was when Real Madrid welcomed Barcelona at the Bernabeu for the first leg of the UCL semi final. Except that this time, there was neither an unstoppable force, nor an immovable object. This time it was a “Wresting Tag Team meets Cheap Roadside Entertainment Troupe”. This time, the fans despaired. This time there were no bland one liners. This time everyone ensured that they would do anything to be the “Fucking Boss”, the “Puto Amo”, on and off the field. This time, the superficial veils of Respect and Image were not just blown away, but ripped off. This time the match, the teams, the players, the managers and everyone else involved were teleported into the epicenter of the very negation of Utopia. This time Anarchy won. This time, the only loser was the game itself…<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWF28DIrCg7UcgqxCMVk9K8OTM_3yDfnpjuxDLBaPqrPPAs0OK4mlvLSmBlCfanN6aoe0wcs2I80mvL79i7KS-9p9TzUqytxk-3l7nhG5OcnxmjytE_oy91xbFv9mDBC6t1tb4__XXMnA/s1600/img2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="402" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWF28DIrCg7UcgqxCMVk9K8OTM_3yDfnpjuxDLBaPqrPPAs0OK4mlvLSmBlCfanN6aoe0wcs2I80mvL79i7KS-9p9TzUqytxk-3l7nhG5OcnxmjytE_oy91xbFv9mDBC6t1tb4__XXMnA/s640/img2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What was displayed on the pitch was not Passion of this kind</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
The seeds for this buildup were sown right after the first match where Barca took offence to the physical nature of Madrid, ranting on about how only one team played football. The excuse was as feeble as Robben’s right foot, but it helped divert attention from the fact that Barca had still not figured out to find its way through disciplined sides which defend deep. The frustration was exacerbated when Madrid not only played physically, but dominated Barcelona fairly over 120 minutes to win the Copa Del Rey final; prompting Guardiola to complain wryly about Pedro’s decision being correctly called offside. Agent provocateur Jose Mourinho jabbed back with a theory that until then he had known that there were two kind of managers in the world; a large group like himself who complain about wrong referring decisions and a small group who did not complain. But now he had met the third kind in Guardiola who complained about decisions being correct. This was the beginning of the collapse and as the Spanish media built itself up into a furor Joesp Guardiola sat down for his pre-match press conference.<br />
<br />
As soon as the inevitable question about his response to Mourinho’s comments was posed to him he replied that he would not compete with Mourinho in the press room, because he’s, and I quote Guardiola here, the “Fucking Boss”, the “Puto Amo”. Guardiola said that he would like to gift his admittance of defeat in the press room as a little Champions trophy to Mourinho and would meet him on the pitch at 20:45 that same day. And then he left for his hotel room where he got a resounding welcome from his players and staff. Meanwhile Pep’s comments ran like wildfire across the ether, with many prompted to think that he may have finally broken in the season long psychological battle with Mourinho. However, there was nothing spontaneous or casual about Guardiola’s comments. A student of psychology, nicknamed The Philosopher, each of Guardiola’s comments was measured and intentional. In that instant, he converted a team that doted on him to a team that would die for him, or act for him. <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNtzwxQCjkwRJ_gftGa6HLSuC4vUgGzP9l3ley5GImUO25f3phlZrWVJKajkSOzurbSoFjmCoWAArlWBgwvZ2VxUT2DW8TeFuGDzM0AFb2hsSeTU8mXlGsAYiugcc1SobTAt0L9xw14U/s1600/img3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnNtzwxQCjkwRJ_gftGa6HLSuC4vUgGzP9l3ley5GImUO25f3phlZrWVJKajkSOzurbSoFjmCoWAArlWBgwvZ2VxUT2DW8TeFuGDzM0AFb2hsSeTU8mXlGsAYiugcc1SobTAt0L9xw14U/s640/img3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two different teams, different tactics. One common thing: Dirty</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
And act they did. The physical footballing parlance of Madrid was met by Barcelona with cheap, a penny per show, playacting. While Madrid seeked to absorb Barcelona’s attacks and break them down with a combination of cunning, discipline and aggression, Barcelona sought to look for fouls, sometimes, non-existent ones, from Madrid. The fluid Barcelona passing had intentionally reduced to an untidy, labored rigmarole where instead of passing the ball around Madrid, they sought to run through Madrid, inviting body challenges, going down in a crumpled heap clutching their faces as if they’d been shot, hounding the referee in a mass bunch, shoving him and screaming at him to show the damn card. And he finally did. <br />
<br />
Madrid’s best player over the last two clasicos, who has always had an unfortunate reputation for being a thug in defence clashed with Barcelona’s best playactor over the years, Dani Alves. While the challenge was a 50-50 and deserved a yellow, the incidents following it influenced referee Wolfgang Stark to award a straight red who walked off smiling sarcastically and utterly bemused. As soon as Pepe supposedly made contact, Dani Alves took an almighty somersault and landed in a crumpled heap clutching his right shin. Barcelona players called for the stretcher and Alves allowed himself to be stretchered away. Meanwhile Barcelona’s players hounded the referee who handed Pepe the red. Dani Alves happy to see his team’s mission accomplished jogged back on the pitch barely a minute later, all smiles. If Madrid’s gameplan was to let Pepe destroy every attacking threat that Barcelona posted, it was Barcelona’s gameplan to get Pepe sent off. After the successful dismissal of Pepe and with a man advantage, the ref hounding stopped and Barcelona started to play. Afellay came on for Villa and drilled a low cross to Messi who slotted it home under minimal pressure to score his first goal from open play under a Mourinho coached team. Messi took it further few minutes later, slaloming his way past the entire Madrid defence to score a second and the contest was well and truly over.<br />
<br />
Messi’s genius might have given the game a semblance of a football game and perhaps that is what prompted Xavi to say that “Football won in the end”. As far as the blog is concerned, No sir, it did not. Just as Football isn’t about having a tactical gameplan of professionally fouling opponents, Football also ins’t about tactically getting players sent off. The blog’s just surprised that despite playing a drama group squad for 90 minutes, Xavi still didn’t let go of the typical Catalan moral high ground.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And to think the second leg is still to be played.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To read the post match negative propaganda on part of both clubs, read the second part of this article <a href="http://anotherprickinduhwall.blogspot.com/2011/04/match-that-no-one-wantedor-won-part-ii.html#more">here</a>. </span></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-90024065165736457492011-04-22T13:02:00.000-07:002011-04-22T13:27:36.206-07:00Reyes Del Copa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7vhwrS-su-C56RxR873Wbt8hqMgHlPh2e4WHo2g0_Q_zb9kZnXKtYdXV7xVgBHjrDJqSpvm2P_Wu0KxdNo6Cr6SXlkYfWSDqUzh85OkFgYduaNxUT2imEzX8Q62Szyoyh8gYmybKT6U/s1600/img1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7vhwrS-su-C56RxR873Wbt8hqMgHlPh2e4WHo2g0_Q_zb9kZnXKtYdXV7xVgBHjrDJqSpvm2P_Wu0KxdNo6Cr6SXlkYfWSDqUzh85OkFgYduaNxUT2imEzX8Q62Szyoyh8gYmybKT6U/s640/img1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Champions of Spain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In this blog’s awfully short living memory, there hasn’t been an occasion before when the Copa Del Rey final has been received with such fanfare. Consequently, the blog wonders if it is only because of the big two or is it because the final signaled a prospective end to the hegemony of arguably the best side in world football today. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpmKNhpCKaR4qJvuaU3C6UedX_QBXOCJVy1F0ACGlcb7FaCcr2MEM9gEa4UKAyw6-r59Pd8Uz94Ts5QuebdCvUB80AJQVJwo6toSh2adUWM0Law-5bJCPKxljREH-uo8pjzTjegewzgw/s1600/img3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpmKNhpCKaR4qJvuaU3C6UedX_QBXOCJVy1F0ACGlcb7FaCcr2MEM9gEa4UKAyw6-r59Pd8Uz94Ts5QuebdCvUB80AJQVJwo6toSh2adUWM0Law-5bJCPKxljREH-uo8pjzTjegewzgw/s400/img3.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>While people in Catalunya have been fairly attentive to the Copa Del Rey (Cup of Kings) over the years – if only because for them winning it symbolizes yet another victory over the “establishment” – for clubs like Ahtletic Bilbao, a derision towards the capital combined with the fact that there’s only so much their “homegrown players only” policy can do, the Kings Cup has been the only tournament they could be realistically realistic about. Compare that with the view from the capital, where the tournament has been often labeled as a Mickey Mouse Cup, a trophy so derided, that in recent years it has been looked upon as nothing more than a scrap for the rest of the pack to feed upon. Madridistas worldwide are already forlorn given the decade long drought of the beloved UEFA Champions League, a trophy Real Madrid considers synonymous with the tradition of the club itself. The drought of the Copa Del Rey has been longer, 17 years to be precise, and included embarrassments such as the 4-3 (agg.) defeat to Real Union and the 4-1 (agg.) defeat to Alcorcon, both clubs placed in the third tier of Spanish football. For this reason alone, they have been the butt of several jokes in recent years, one from the Spanish Prime Minister himself. But save for Iker Casillas, no one (at least those under the media spotlight anyway) at Madrid; has ever expressed their desire to win this particular tournament. Then came one man, and then it all changed.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Jose Mourinho, previously derided by the dogmatic Bernabeu faithful, walked into the Bernabeu and won the UEFA Champions League with Inter. Three months later, he made the switch permanent with the words, “Every coach should have the fortune of coaching a club like Real Madrid on his resume. Real Madrid is one-of-a kind and I want to be a part of its history”. On 22nd April, 2011, Jose Mourinho wrote his name into the Real Madrid history books for the very first time by winning the Copa Del Rey in his first season as coach. Against Barcelona, no less. The funny thing is that for all the supposed lack of care from the capital, it was the Copa Del Rey that Mourinho proclaimed to be his primary target, El Numero Uno, for the season. And he ended up winning it, dedicating it (or what remained of it) to the 1,00,000 Madrid fans gathered at the Cibeles. So much for not being bothered, you’ll say, but the blog feels that it was relief at finally defeating Barcelona to a trophy more than anything else.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qYnLdK5MGQxi-POEHsOzyvj9eqLRZrviuulxZrhVFPb5JUdgEdB_xEAHEvdcUQWz_ZtB8pK4DEGLvAV-qeEKRzhUhRg3PBOJApi5r-A5x94TRtkEyeGv7S5mua2KEqi3QFIZQxxclLg/s1600/img2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qYnLdK5MGQxi-POEHsOzyvj9eqLRZrviuulxZrhVFPb5JUdgEdB_xEAHEvdcUQWz_ZtB8pK4DEGLvAV-qeEKRzhUhRg3PBOJApi5r-A5x94TRtkEyeGv7S5mua2KEqi3QFIZQxxclLg/s640/img2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>It is easy to write off Madrid as having arguably the world’s best squad at the moment. Their cohesion though, is light years behind Barcelona as was evidenced in the 5-0 mauling of the first clasico last November. “In that game we did not see the ball. We lost 5-0 and if the game had lasted 10 minutes more, it would have been six or seven. It is a game to forget, but one we must always remember, a bit like the first match Inter played against them last season. We lost 2-0 in the group stages, and it could have been 4-0. We do not forget, as that game was the basis for preparing the semi-final against them, and I will do exactly the same with Real Madrid when they return to play against Barcelona”, said Real’s gaffer after that match. He did not forget and he prepared for the time when Real Madrid returned to Barcelona. He overturned the embarrassment of the 5-0 by slightly outplaying and holding Barca 1-1 with a 10 man team in the return leg of the Liga. Four days later, he took it a level ahead by beating Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey final.<br />
<br />
It is difficult to fathom what goes on in Jose Mourinho’s mind. Over the course of a season, he has provided the Madrid based dailies with sound bytes that have made headlines. “What are you thinking? Do you think you’re playing in France? I’ll have to train you at twelve, because at ten you come sleeping and at eleven you are still sleeping”, was his public flogging of Benzema which was supposed to serve as motivation. When asked as to why Benzema was still being benched inspite of Higuain being injured and out, he famously answered, “You can hunt with a dog; you can hunt with a cat, but less so”. Half a season later, the cat finally roared a lion’s roar with Benzema being one of the most successful strikers in the year 2011. Over the course of the season, inspite of coming across as a moaning scoundrel (as Manuel Preciado, the coach of Sporting Gijon called him), Mourinho has always sought to protect each and every member of his team and make them grow stronger. He has given the team faith, belief, discipline and mental strength. Over the course of 120 minutes, every single quality of his Real Madrid squad came through. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGj_7HeGBS_SXyvU10b8LrQIkp1u6Q3YqRFLUjxU1JOv0L-J79jcPSxo4Qf8xGdMD8i8WA76JvCEi1SjFiDTyKW1KlRDkGpCBk2MUgG8oD6PjjiK94ANm6z66onLZrVRo2hd6NUedfmog/s1600/img5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGj_7HeGBS_SXyvU10b8LrQIkp1u6Q3YqRFLUjxU1JOv0L-J79jcPSxo4Qf8xGdMD8i8WA76JvCEi1SjFiDTyKW1KlRDkGpCBk2MUgG8oD6PjjiK94ANm6z66onLZrVRo2hd6NUedfmog/s400/img5.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>The Real Madrid backline straddled by the trivote of Pepe, Khedira and Alonso patrolled their half with discipline and hunger over 120 minutes. Pepe, reinvented in the role of a defensive midfielder in the previous clasico took the role further as a roving box-to-box midfielder for this game and he played that role with discipline, hunger, determination and passion till the final whistle. In the first half, Real sought to break relentlessly into Barcelona, not allowing them time over the ball or leaving empty passing lanes to feed the ball into. In fact, Barcelona rarely threatened the entire half, barely registering a shot on goal. On the other hand, Mesut Ozil, the star of the first half starting in favor of Adebayor played the Messi role of a false nine and created three to four genuine goal scoring opportunities. Two squandered Ronaldo chances and an unlucky Pepe header which rebounded off the post saw the teams walk away with the score tied at 0-0 at the end of the half. The second half began with Barca shifting gears and playing some of their most impressive football till date. Casillas lived up to his billing as the world’s number 1 by making some excellent reflex saves, leaving the score at 0-0. The intensity of the Real pressing, whether by intent or fatigue, had reduced and Barca sought to take advantage of this. Yet, Madrid prevailed. As the match wore on, Mourinho changed tactics once more by getting off Ozil in favor of Adebayor who started playing as a targetman with Ronaldo moving to the right. The flanks of Ronaldo and Di Maria sought to exploit the flanks of Adriano and Dani Alves on the break with balls hoofed upwards that Adebyor controlled in order to orchestrate breaks. As the match wore on into extra time, it was on the flanks that Real finally made a kill. Di Maria caught Dani Alves on the break, played a swift pass to Marcelo, who passed it back to Di Maria who beat Alves for pace and then delivered the cross into the box which was headed powerfully past Pinto in goal by Ronaldo coming in from the opposite flank. Suddenly Real Madrid went up 1-0 and after a gritty, defensive performance for 110 minutes, Real Madrid were certainly not going to concede a goal in the remaining ten. As Madrid celebrated with delirious fans at the Madrid side of the Mestalla with the Barcelona side empty, Mourinho took time to reflect on criticism leveled at him after the previous clasico. “I respect the words of Di Stefano, I'm a nobody in the history of the club, but I'm the coach and I take the decisions”, said he setting the record straight before adding, “I came here to do important things and make some important changes”. At Real Madrid for the past decade and more, the decadence of the top management has been such that the post of a coach has always been looked upon as that of sitting in a cauldron of boiling hot water. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtA9NEAyfgC9nIh2bKWn3JGfGe8moVyNUkytLynqAdfHpb-lrtDamhByLETITDVuZMAqKhyphenhyphenyjK5G__p_UW1CD9-X0qML0HvxPEDULaWWD6Otsyus-Smf0Z7RRCjhqTRIKnzQmewAVw8gs/s1600/img4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtA9NEAyfgC9nIh2bKWn3JGfGe8moVyNUkytLynqAdfHpb-lrtDamhByLETITDVuZMAqKhyphenhyphenyjK5G__p_UW1CD9-X0qML0HvxPEDULaWWD6Otsyus-Smf0Z7RRCjhqTRIKnzQmewAVw8gs/s640/img4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cup that got away...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>On Wednesday, Mourinho might have just righted that wrong. Cruyff might’ve claimed that Mourinho is a coach of titles, not football, but Mourinho does not mind it. Said he, “Someone said that I’m a coach for winning titles and not for football. Thanks, I like it that way.”<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-62629437444606058192011-04-18T13:26:00.000-07:002011-04-22T00:27:24.385-07:00Super Pepe salvages battle, Super Pep wins war<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxx2jBl8ov4hGcbBZVCqMxEZPHvb4fZHF6YWbPz3G7NK_jtc5rlDowZIrjmm8mJz6sfiZb8UG3nCrUb594FMnFJqu8kFmJic8PBcopRqtpLNRtH0-JMlQDWifIwze02WoBUV0QWBW5OM/s1600/img1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="410" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxx2jBl8ov4hGcbBZVCqMxEZPHvb4fZHF6YWbPz3G7NK_jtc5rlDowZIrjmm8mJz6sfiZb8UG3nCrUb594FMnFJqu8kFmJic8PBcopRqtpLNRtH0-JMlQDWifIwze02WoBUV0QWBW5OM/s640/img1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Much Better than the Hasta El Final mosaic. Simple and Terrifying</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As the final whistle rang out on the first of four Clasicos; three things were certainto this blog: Barcelona had finally sealed their third consecutive league, Real Madrid proved that the remaining matches were going to be anything but a foregone conclusion and Mourinho had learnt from his mistakes. The previous five clasicos had a common pattern. Madrid started the game well, then lost the midfield battle to Xavi, Iniesta and co. and over a period of 90 minutes, slowly slumped to a point of no return. In fact, APTW almost had half a mind to give this one a miss given the fact that Mourinho had given up on the league already and given the latest string of results, the clasico has been one of the easiest matches of the calendar for Barcelona.<br />
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Going into this match, Barcelona had already effectively won the league given the sheer quality of their team and the 8 point gap with seven games to go. If you might’ve read any talk from Madrid in the vein of “we will fight for the league till its mathematically impossible” be assured that it was absolute hogwash. Mourinho had given up on the league the night his nine year old record was broken. Since then he’s been preparing for the cup tournaments, trying different formations and strategies as he seeks to banish the Barca ghost once and for all. A small blueprint of that was seen in the first clasico on Saturday as Madrid took to the field with a 4-1-4-1 formation. The blog feels that brownie points are in order since it was right in its judgement about the formation Mourinho would set his team out to play in the tactical preview. The 4-1-4-1 that Mourinho had his team play had Carvalho and Albiol in the center with Ramos and Marcelo in the wider areas. Pepe deputized as a destroyer, sitting just behind the midfield duo of Alonso and Khedira, while Di Maria and Ronaldo played as straight wingers. The formation was a classic Mourinho formation and for once, Madrid countered Barcelona’s strength in the midfield by going level on number of players in that particular area of the field. On the other hand, Barcelona played their standard 4-3-3 formation, the surprise being Puyol making the starting elven. The blog feels that Pep might have rushed in Puyol for the crucial first encounter and may yet regret his decision if Puyol fails to make the starting 11 come Wednesday for the Copa Del Rey final. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAy1krD8a1cPmK3Xvf8xMXG7JiWcLA5sqoUPRB3dVjlDy2xZRw-ToKMqvQfuXV4YaynY40npjl0XA94K5jIDEzYbHQO1iE04UU9dSXC4hM1SA_25ZWiCj_kQWRCFCLiigpXvyjkyU0QHM/s1600/img2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="454" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAy1krD8a1cPmK3Xvf8xMXG7JiWcLA5sqoUPRB3dVjlDy2xZRw-ToKMqvQfuXV4YaynY40npjl0XA94K5jIDEzYbHQO1iE04UU9dSXC4hM1SA_25ZWiCj_kQWRCFCLiigpXvyjkyU0QHM/s640/img2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He did all the ball winning, but was no slouch at keeping the ball either</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The match started fairly predictably with Madrid being slow and lethargic and Barcelona hogging possession confidently. After the initial, nervy 20 minutes, which are the most dangerous 20 minutes against Barcelona, a team whose entire dynamic is based on scoring early, Madrid looked more comfortable without the ball. A point to be noted here is that throughout the season, Madrid has strived to play a possession based, direct game and they had to tear up that gameplan and flush it down the toilet for this match. Given this fact, Madrid were mightily impressive in playing without the ball. The midfield trio of Pepe, Alonso and Khedira strived tirelessly to prevent the talented Barcelona midfielders from having the time on the ball they like. Pepe playing between the defensive and midfield lines had his best ever game in a Madrid jersey as he broke down constant attacks, rendering Messi in his withdrawn center forward role to an average player at times. Khedira made sure that Iniesta remained invisible throughout the game. Barcelona’s surprise factor, Dani Alves, was prevented from using the right flank to his advantage by the combined work rate and attacking of Marcelo and Di Maria. In the last clasico, Guardiola displayed a brilliant masterstroke in playing Xavi high up the pitch with Messi even more withdrawn. This time though, in probably an attempt to outmaneuver Mourinho, Guardiola made no significant change to his usual gameplan. On the other hand, Mourinho’s heavily modified midfield strategy saw Xabi Alonso playing highest up in the midfield trio where he could close down Xavi. With the primary threats dealt with, the other defenders were left to perform zonal marking and cut down stray runs, through balls and deal with the pace and trickery of Villa, who at this moment can’t score in a whorehouse by the look of things. The real ace of spades was played by Mourinho and was twofold: He played Pepe in a pure destroyer role; and he managed to rest players like Ozil, Kaka, Higuain and Benzema for the upcoming batch of clasicos. The blog expects that the lineup may be altered slightly at the Mestalla with Mourinho preferring to go for the kill earlier on. So all in all, over this season the Pep vs Jose debate stands at 1-1, with both managers getting the better of one another once tactically. Of course this has nothing to do with winning or losing the game nor is it a head to head record based on stats.<br />
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As far as stats go, Barcelona was clearly the superior team as they had an astonishing 70% possession with 740 passes completed to Madrid’s 30% possession and 149 passes completely. That being said, partly because of Pepe who stood head and shoulders above every other player last night, and partly because Barca were playing with their version of being defensive (that of keeping the ball in their own half and venturing forward only if they saw a real opening), Barce never really threatened Madrid. In fact it was Madrid who had the better chances at goal with Ronaldo hitting the post off a freekick, a Pepe header that Valdes scrambled to get clear and a Khedira shot which was hit straight at Valdes. And all this despite keeping Ozil out of the game for more than half the game. Ozil’s introduction changed the game dynamics and in the last 10 minutes, it was Barca who looked most likely to slip up than Madrid did. The diminutive Turk German came into the game past the 65 minute mark and immediately took the game to Barcelona who had Puyol stretchered to the sidelines with a pulled hamstring and Busquets deputizing in the vacated position, where he’s not too comfortable. The match in itself was a dull affair as far as eye candy goes with both the goals coming off penalties, but a spectacle tactically. <br />
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That is exactly why APTW finds it amusing to find Mourinho’s tactics lambasted in some corners of the press. Barcelona’s ex-honorary president, legend and current filthy mouth concluded that to play with seven defenders at home is a measure of Barcelona’s superiority against Madrid. Madrid’s current honorary president and legend Di Stefano laid out his harshest criticism yet about the club claiming that “the football Barcelona play is to be watched with the soul and not by the heart. Madrid has no personality. If Barca is a lion, then Madrid is a mouse”. While the blog is quite positive that such a approach would not be tolerated by Madridistas if it becomes the standard norm of playing at the white castle, it certainly could not dismiss the loud cheers the home side got when the referee blew the final whistle. The fans at the Bernabeu might be suckers for performance and fickle, but they can be practical, something that was quite out of the ordinary if you compare it with Di Stefano’s romantic viewpoint. To expect Madrid to take Barcelona head-on immediately after a clasico where they had a manita served to them is folly. But then Di Stefano has been around for a much longer time, much longer than the time APTW took to get out his diapers and start blogging. Di Stefano has seen Laudrup’s Barcelona hand a 5-0 to Madrid, only for Laudrup’s Madrid to hand Barcelona a 5-0 in the next clasico (separated by a summer in which Laudrup moved from the port to the capital). That is stuff right out of a fairytale, but the blog’s quite confident about the fact that Mourinho’s never believed in fairytales. He’s believed in pragmatism; that ever abused term in today’s footballing world.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfKj2ymn3QgF991hUeiS6QxS1R9yTa9INd2Kc5xp4k_yv9JLFTzfx66zBt8IYJSpD1mAwDS3V6Mmn8AutO0Icc58alocVCKIH0PlKl9KFrD5Wbv-VHtb8yhiXAfYZBIJHv-jX6t6aOk0/s1600/img4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfKj2ymn3QgF991hUeiS6QxS1R9yTa9INd2Kc5xp4k_yv9JLFTzfx66zBt8IYJSpD1mAwDS3V6Mmn8AutO0Icc58alocVCKIH0PlKl9KFrD5Wbv-VHtb8yhiXAfYZBIJHv-jX6t6aOk0/s400/img4.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>The ref’s final whistle at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu was actually the whistle to signal the start of the media clasico. Referee Cesar Muniz Fernandez has immediately come under fire from both sects of fans for a series of blunders that are being debated endlessly since the match concluded. While the cules feel that Fernandez should’ve sent off Casillas for his foul on Villa and awarded them a penalty (not withstanding the fact that Ronaldo had a similar shout for a penalty disallowed in the last clasico), the merengues feel that the Valencia loving, wanting-to-feel-the-Mestalla-crowd-from-the-stands-and-not-the-pitch, Albiol should’ve been awarded only a yellow and Dani Alves was the one who deserved to be sent off. As if it mattered what he thought, Dani Alves sought to clear his stance after the match claiming that it was a fair challenge and he got the ball, despite camera evidence pointing out that it was nothing more than a studs-up, last minute lunge from behind. Then of course, there is this little matter of Messi not being cautioned for deliberately kicking the ball into the stands. However, despite the fact that Fernandez is the guy who had awarded 10 penalties to Madrid and 1 to Barca prior to this game suggesting a strong bias, the blog feels that the referee was simply too incompetent to officiate in a match of this caliber. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixb2LVa_NICK266Uk9wQ7BFJj5nr3N2Z17hoDYNPcJEWpTjLgGUfd_Y2UMuuCpqiZudaHnPz75ocg-HOBY_zJsQV62WolHK8dSVQrJiETi5Tdg8D9HyK2a3a8XRZ8OF8C2eNNYbZJZ2Gk/s1600/img3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixb2LVa_NICK266Uk9wQ7BFJj5nr3N2Z17hoDYNPcJEWpTjLgGUfd_Y2UMuuCpqiZudaHnPz75ocg-HOBY_zJsQV62WolHK8dSVQrJiETi5Tdg8D9HyK2a3a8XRZ8OF8C2eNNYbZJZ2Gk/s640/img3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Campeones, surely!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Meanwhile, Marca has taken a break from all the Orgasmous, Podemous and Moudrids and is crediting the team for a draw that tasted like a victory, pointedly ignoring Mourinho. Ditto with AS; the reason for this being Mourinho’s media boycott on the eve of the match fearing what would be “misinterpreted” comments, as if they’ve ever bothered Mourinho, leaving number two Aitor Karanka to deal with the journo hacks who walked out of the conference, at least the ones from AS and Marca did. After the match, Mourinho did talk to the press, but only the international outlets, claiming ever so humbly that they can expect a good cup final if all the three teams played fairly and then letting his disdain for the walkout be known by answering a question posed by a journalist from AS with “Are you the director of AS? If not, I cannot talk to you, because apparently it is your company’s policy not to talk with those who are second in command and deserve respect”. Props to Mourinho for standing up to the no-gooders, but the blog feels that he might have just dug his grave by angering the previously adoring Madrid press. Think Pellegrini. While all this madness is rife, people seem to have forgotten that Barca have well and truly sealed the 21st league title, their third on the trot under Guardiola. The catalan dailies are taking pain to point it out, but as envisioned by yours truly, the four matches have cascaded into one giant match where he who will laugh last, will laugh the loudest.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-80004241423672905752011-04-16T05:05:00.000-07:002011-04-22T00:27:59.232-07:00Tactical Talks ahead of El Clasico<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Following the <a href="http://anotherprickinduhwall.blogspot.com/2011/04/el-cuatro.html">whacky preview in this article</a>, Another Prick In The Wall now takes a look at the tactical battles that will pan out in the upcoming El Clasico miniseries. When one talks about tactics, it’s only natural to think of Jose Mourinho. It’s also easy for most level headed people to dismiss Barcelona as having just one tactic: Attack, Attack & Attack. Even Pep Guardiola is a proponent of this “apparent” belief. What most people do not realize that this is a tactic in itself. Most teams know that Barca will always seek to maintain possession of the ball, gain it when they lose it by extensive possession and will attack for all the 90 minutes. However, what is unseen are the little tactical modifications that Pep goes about with every 2-3 matches depending on the opposition.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The battle between Real Madrid on Barcelona on three different fronts necessitates a need for tactical innovation, an ability to manage and motivate resources and an urge to remain focused despite a stumble or two. This is exactly where Jose Mourinho & Pep Guardiola excel. This article attempts to take a look into the different formations that can be utilized in course of the four matches.<br />
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<strong>Real Madrid</strong><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4NVDFqkHupGCuL5cPgq50ZjVmlo0vMEpgX7fC-Hip9UEjEbvNqqJCasp2WpHhswYbdSzY5TTAZB2NS4jNMH7wl-SMudV1ALvyvVDFgXhlXUJI6jeecZXiyasxSINxSgbNs9o0o8iuzVI/s1600/4231.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4NVDFqkHupGCuL5cPgq50ZjVmlo0vMEpgX7fC-Hip9UEjEbvNqqJCasp2WpHhswYbdSzY5TTAZB2NS4jNMH7wl-SMudV1ALvyvVDFgXhlXUJI6jeecZXiyasxSINxSgbNs9o0o8iuzVI/s400/4231.png" width="271" /></a>In his time at Real Madrid, Jose Mourinho has been known to primarily prefer a 4-2-3-1 formation for most matches. The attacking quartet of Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo & Benzema / Higuain / Adebayor has proved to be more than a match for most teams as Real Madrid have steam rolled their way in the league and cup competitions alike, barring some unnecessary (but costly) mistakes which see them 8 points adrift of Barca in the league. The 4-2-3-1 formation revolves around Xabi Alonso who is the engine of this Real Madrid team. The midfield general sits the deepest amongst other midfielders and forwards, just ahead of the center backs; that no opposition zone where he can find time on the ball to pick up player runs or unmarked players. Blessed with a knack for long lobbed passes which find their target more often than not, Xabi Alonso’s skills are essential to Real Madrid. After an explosive world cup and being lapped up by Real Madrid for a pittance, Ozil had to immediately step into the injured Kaka’s shoes. He soon found out that they were not too big to fill given the poor performance Kaka had been associated with Real Madrid till then due to his persistent injury problems. Ozil not only fit in, but he has started to receive rave reviews about his performance, often being compared to the great Zinedine Zidane (which is taking things way too far obviously). That being said, Ozil is the league’s highest assister after Messi and his all seeing fish eyes endow him with an ability to consistently create scoring chances. He averages creating 6-7 scoring chances per game and even if half of those were converted per game, he would’ve easily been the league’s best creator. The other player who’s impressed at the Bernabeu is Di Maria. Di Maria is known for his work rate, his stamina, his willingness to drop back deep, way deep into the defensive zones to win balls and his ability to drift inwards from the right flank while spotting team mate runs and feeding them the diagonal balls makes him a real asset to Real Madrid. He has been a tad immature at times, sometimes downright outrageous with all that diving he gets up to, but the Bernabeu loves him nevertheless. After being lambasted initially, Benzema has finally begun to put his cleats on the right feet. Injury has kept him out of action but he’s fit for all the crunch matches. There’s nothing to say about Ronaldo; the quality is undeniable. </div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Given the quality of all these players, the upcoming fixtures list poses a problem for Mourinho and in recent games, due to lack of choice or simply to rest and rotate, or as it has been reported – to prepare for the upcoming clasicos, Mourinho has been experimenting with the squad. Mourinho’s first clasico didn’t end too well for him; in fact it was humiliation with the 0-5 scoreline, Mourinho’s biggest ever defeat. Mourinho had started his usual 4-2-3-1 formation in that match and the Madrid midfield was grossly outnumbered with waves of Barcelona attacks. Hence it is reasonable to assume that Mourinho won’t be making the same mistake once more. The lack of a trivote was cruelly exposed in the last clasico, as Mourinho seeked to put on Lass in the second half of that match, which served as a public admittance that he had got his starting eleven wrong. So in all aspects, the blog feels that Mourinho will start with a trivote, or even a quarter in the midfield to keep a man advantage in that area of the field.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8x4kNGnKDMZaZY5CA5ppKZoLH0srYuB_Ph_MoYaGoxlpchVUQ4LCa399ZwEFL_2wBWhWW8MRfTJjZor60S0rcs12pPkabX-tXAiggqWDfcQSw47ukL39b0W5YNtI3Ek71hcgFzuJkffI/s1600/4141.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="486" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8x4kNGnKDMZaZY5CA5ppKZoLH0srYuB_Ph_MoYaGoxlpchVUQ4LCa399ZwEFL_2wBWhWW8MRfTJjZor60S0rcs12pPkabX-tXAiggqWDfcQSw47ukL39b0W5YNtI3Ek71hcgFzuJkffI/s640/4141.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click on the image to enlarge it</td></tr>
</tbody></table> The match against Athletic Bilbao saw Mourinho employing a strange line-up with a strange 4-1-4-1 formation. However the logic in using this formation against Barca is undeniable. A defensive midfielder like Khedira or Pepe deployed just ahead of the flat back four can and will look to cut the through balls that Barca seems to put in with relative ease. The four midfielders ahead of the defensive line will look to continuously gain a man advantage over the Barca midfield while the lone forward up ahead will be deployed to primarily play with his back to goal and engineer swift counter attacks. Barca are known to be susceptible to pacey counter attacks which is where the pace of Ronaldo, Di Maria or Ozil can be put to good effect.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click on the image to enlarge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The other formation that Mourinho has experimented with over the course of the season, especially in away fixtures is the Christmas tree formation, i.e. the 4-3-2-1 formation. There is not much difference between the 4-1-4-1 and the 4-3-2-1 except that the 4-3-2-1 is more of an attacking formation which can be deployed to drive Madrid’s counter attack down the center of Barca. Barca are especially good at utilizing the width of the pitch and with their players spread to the wide areas, Madrid can look to drive through their center, get a goal or two and sit tight.<br />
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The blog’s gut feeling is that Mourinho will use the 4-3-2-1 formation for the 1st clasico at the Bernabeu, use a 4-1-4-1 at the Mestalla for the Cup Final, use either the favored 4-3-2-1 or the occasional 4-3-2-1 at the Bernabeu for the Champions League tie and round it off with the 4-1-4-1 at the Camp Nou if Madrid have a lead in the first leg.<br />
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<strong>Barcelona</strong><br />
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Enough has been said about Barcelona’s attacks, the way they play and the way they line up. They have the best players in the world for almost every position. Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets form the world cup winning trivote, a midfield that any team would love to have. They have the world’s best player in Messi who has mastered the role of a withdrawn center forward this season; they have the world’s most complete center forward in Villa. Alves, the world’s best right back in the world at the moment, adds the team composition a surprise element and is especially effective going down the right flank.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtC6LfFT3sKqQIzy5CgLob7n5-0wxy3Bu_Tg0d6aXyUdgu5fzhTJLOyQaTu-FFdVKhyZYuqAtWtbabzrsbgfJAM1WQANnj3wE_0bOFnGfa5NGOIG-ijUKHbTT8eI6ybU_VvgIDXuXwEfw/s1600/433.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="334" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtC6LfFT3sKqQIzy5CgLob7n5-0wxy3Bu_Tg0d6aXyUdgu5fzhTJLOyQaTu-FFdVKhyZYuqAtWtbabzrsbgfJAM1WQANnj3wE_0bOFnGfa5NGOIG-ijUKHbTT8eI6ybU_VvgIDXuXwEfw/s640/433.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click on the image to enlarge</td></tr>
</tbody></table> As far as formations go, Barca play a fairly standard 4-3-3 formation with little or no variation in how they line up for the games. With Puyol’s match fitness being a concern and Bojan and Abidal out for an extended period of time, Barca’s thin squad may be stretched thin for the upcoming matches and Pep will have to use his options judiciously. Of course, he’s no slouch at that, and given the fact that Barcelona’s players have played with each other for so long, Pep has the comfort of rotating the squad much more easily that Mourinho can. The first leg can see Busquets deputizing at center back as Puyol might not be rushed from injury and Mascherano is suspended. This is the weak link that Madrid will seek to exploit. Pique isn’t on his best form at the moment and Busquets has shown that he’s susceptible to pace in recent matches. So that is where Mourinho might look to make the kill. At the opposite end however, Madrid have a big reason to worry. Madrid’s best center back, Carvalho, will miss the first leg of the Champions League due to accumulated yellow card; given the fact that most teams’ best defences cannot stop Xavi, Messi, Villa and company, it is difficult to imagine Madrid stopping Barca from getting a crucial away goal. As far as the league goes, it still doesn’t change a thing though the blog feels that Guardiola would have a surprise in store with the other formation depicted below.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmbU4JiXJjFnOjSdHGb9G_L2fbRIYF9L2Ms-sDo435YXnnaZOaE2g5pEbldlls97ueXZtKwHEbjRArEBC_7BupO2kqe_UgVtmflyvZvOdHcCpdosxCIwBbAZFd2de_MatxqUsP8LEmSY/s1600/343.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmbU4JiXJjFnOjSdHGb9G_L2fbRIYF9L2Ms-sDo435YXnnaZOaE2g5pEbldlls97ueXZtKwHEbjRArEBC_7BupO2kqe_UgVtmflyvZvOdHcCpdosxCIwBbAZFd2de_MatxqUsP8LEmSY/s400/343.png" width="271" /></a></div>Occassionally, against sides which play four players in the midfield, Guardiola has been known to utilize a 3-4-3 formation in attack which becomes a 4-3-3 in defence. The two wingbacks, Alves and Adriano / Maxwell bomb forward in tandem with Xavi and Iniesta; Messi drops deep making it a 5 vs 4 situation in the midfield when Barca attack. Meanwhile, Busquets drops in between the center backs so that the team keeps its shape in defence. When Barca does lose the ball, their intensive pressing technique is employed where their first line of attack becomes their first line of defence. The incessant pressing right from the first defensive line allows the wingbacks to track back and restore parity in defence, though the formation is susceptible to counter attacks played aerially (which is where Xabi Alonso can play a major role in dictating the game). Guardiola has been known to study opposition teams very well and make just 1-2 changes to his starting 11 which have the desired impact. As such one can safely rely on the fact that he’s studied almost all of Madrid’s movements with the ball this season and one cannot rule out the possibility that he’ll yet do something special against Madrid. Like in the last match where Madrid had prepared for Khedira to cut off Xavi out of the game and for Ozil to drop deep, Pep had Xavi play higher up the pitch with Messi even more withdrawn than normal. Xavi dictated attack from advanced positions where he had relatively no one picking on him, while Khedira and the rest of the midfield channeled their attentions to cutting off Messi’s runs. You can expect something similar and innovative in the upcoming matches from Pep.<br />
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<strong>Team News</strong><br />
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For the upcoming league encounter, Madrid has Granero unavailable through suspension. Gago & Lass are unavailable through injury, whereas Pedro Leon and Canales have been left out due to coaching decisions. That apart, Madrid has called up 19 players from their squad of 25.<br />
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On the other hand, Barcelona have Puyol, Bojan and Abidal missing through injury. Puyol trained with the squad today and may make the squad list, but might not start the game. Mascherano misses the league encounter through accumulated yellow cards. That apart Barcelona have the rest of their squad to count on.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-81854264595143456942011-04-14T13:11:00.000-07:002011-04-22T00:31:54.647-07:00El Cuatro<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRCrda41XAxRu41mcX45XLu8AIkTdqpmSN4t148pKZK7skGOnjF0cwB58EShn4Sg5Toq5jVjlOb8Zyg05GKXsrGEEd0DSfKO3qSMPU1ZjkYefC2Pm_iTH6Z4PRSGhmQEIhNq6KnDmdo0/s1600/img1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXRCrda41XAxRu41mcX45XLu8AIkTdqpmSN4t148pKZK7skGOnjF0cwB58EShn4Sg5Toq5jVjlOb8Zyg05GKXsrGEEd0DSfKO3qSMPU1ZjkYefC2Pm_iTH6Z4PRSGhmQEIhNq6KnDmdo0/s640/img1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Gran Clasico x 4</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The uninitiated can have a quick look-in into <a href="http://anotherprickinduhwall.blogspot.com/2010/11/el-clasico-101.html">this article</a> which explains the basic concept of the mother of all matches; known simply as El Clasico – The Classic. Every single one of them has been a case of heart break for either one sect of fans, or both. And we’re at that point in time when we’ll watch four of these matches in a gap of four weeks. El Cuatro – The Four. The Four Matches, played by the same two teams, with the same set of players in different competition; truly a smorgasbord of footballing talent, excitement, heartache (cardiac arrest in some cases), passion and tears.<br />
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The tale of the blood spilling (quite literally) rivalry goes long back; way back in fact. If history interests you, you can read a <a href="http://real.theoffside.com/editorialopinion/a-brief-history-of-el-clasico-aka-the-greatest-football-rivalry.html">surprisingly unbiased piece</a> done by a friend of mine, Kaushik, at <a href="http://real.theoffside.com/">The Real Offside</a>. What interests this blog though, is the amount of ego massaging the two clubs are upto these days, backed up by their media stooges in their respective cities. Media in Spain, and more so in Catalunya, have already gone apeshit labeling the upcoming four matches as Cantera vs Cartera (The Youth Academy vs The Moneybags). If you ask APTW, you’re more likely to get a dismissive wave of hand with an engaging smile to boot. Barca have been no strangers to spending in the last few years as <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/sidlowe">Sid Lowe</a> justly pointed out in one of his articles. All in all the blog feels that this is yet another attempt funded discreetly by the Barca marketing machine to ante up its Holier than Thou, self-important image. The “More Than A Club” adage only serves to beef up this understanding as far as the blog is concerned given the fact that Real Madrid too has a successful basket ball team in addition to a football team, has got almost the same number of footballing institutions, foundations and academies around the world as Barca does, a deal with UNICEF amongst other charitable organizations and more number of players from their youth academy playing in the Primera (obviously not for Real Madrid). But Real Madrid are no saints either. In fact, they with their imperious attitude have been at this game longer than Barcelona; who while Franco lived, were truly downtrodden. Image is very important to Real Madrid and the club’s well oiled marketing machine takes utmost care to caress this image and seeks to enforce it upon an unwary football fan. This is where a coach like Jose Mourinho is a maverick to a club like Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho’s image is based upon the Bling, creating an aura around the team that makes its fans love it and others hate it. This is very much in contrast to what the club endeavors to do and to be truthful, Mourinho hasn’t really enjoyed full support at Real Madrid as his recently publicized bust up with Jorge Valdno testifies. He was brought on for a sole reason; to win trophies AND to win against Barcelona. At this moment, both objectives are not at all mutually exclusive. If Mourinho is to win any tournament with Real Madrid this season, he has to defeat Barcelona. Barcelona stands in his way in the league (albeit an “objectively impossible” league as he himself admitted a couple of weeks ago), Barcelona stands in his way if he’s to win the Copa Del Rey and Barcelona stands in his way if he is to make the finals of the UEFA Champions League. As much as Mourinho tried to dismiss it after the first clasico in November quoting that he was not signed to defeat Barcelona, it seems to be his only destiny; the reason why he was hired in the first place making him the most expensive coach in the world: To defeat Barcelona. Which is why there is reason for Madridistas all over the world to worry, given how the match panned out when Madrid last faced Barcelona at the Camp Nou: getting an almighty ass thumping in the process and five little fingers or El Manita as they call it in Spain – 5 goals; one for each finger. It was, through Mourinho’s own admission, the worst defeat in his entire career. But it wasn’t just the Manita for Madridistas; it was a Manita of victories with the final fifth victory served up in a humiliating 0-5 scoreline. The only thing why it wasn’t perfect was that it was Real Madrid’s fourth coach (and not the fifth) who took the fifth loss with the 0-5 scoreline.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Z-dVNvxHZziZkZm3aFdJSTVlllyhyphenhyphenI_4cDlYLQXR5zD2GKMI6CHmURN2tPK0vzSzUsd6JC99rsnB2do16Ga6oBf9tn49BXoR3ZOWo-i7lwUmcwqF_ZhYKz30KVnK7GAxSpPp04al6tg/s1600/13042011160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="604" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Z-dVNvxHZziZkZm3aFdJSTVlllyhyphenhyphenI_4cDlYLQXR5zD2GKMI6CHmURN2tPK0vzSzUsd6JC99rsnB2do16Ga6oBf9tn49BXoR3ZOWo-i7lwUmcwqF_ZhYKz30KVnK7GAxSpPp04al6tg/s640/13042011160.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cantera vs Cartera in recent times</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The history of both clubs is drenched in opposite cycles. More often than not, one club has been fairing quite poorly while the other has been doing rather well. Both teams have had an equal emphasis on their youth academies; though for the past decade, the fickle fanship in Madrid has been spoilt by the eccentric Florentino Perez and his Galactico policy. Floppy’s second tryst with the club, complete with the disposition of the second coming of Jesus, ushered in a fresh wave of Galacticophilia and saw a wave of superstar players joining Madrid over the last two years. To be fair and objective though, the only real galactic signing that Madrid made in the summer preceding this season was Mourinho; the player signings succeeding Mourinho’s signings being overpriced, but sensible ones. Jose Mourinho has since then, powered the young but experienced Madrid squad into its best season for the past few years through a combination of some genuine coaching, luck and moaning, the first El Clasico aside. This is what makes EL Cuatro a spectacle of epic proportions. For the first time in a long time, both clubs are doing equally well, not only domestically but internationally. The stage is set for both clubs to go to war simultaneously on three fronts and in such a situation, the first tie can very well set the mood psychologically for what is to follow. A romantic may look upon it as a “Winner takes all” contest, but like Johan Cruyff pointed out a few weeks back, Pep Guardiola only needs to win two out of the four matches comprehensively (one being the Copa Del Rey and the other being one tie in the UCL). Well, so does Mourinho. With the Madrid based media cooing all over Mourinho since the time he joined Madrid with all the “Orgasmous”, “Podemous” and “Moudrids”, the moment of truth has finally arrived for Mourinho and the verdict will be delivered in the next four weeks. The guillotine can yet fall over Mourinho if he loses two important ones out of the four. Mourinho can get as cocky as he did a few weeks back proclaiming that he can go on and lose all the matches against Barcelona this season and it won’t change a thing, but the truth is that at Madrid they have started smelling blood and if the season ends with exits from all competitions to Barcelona, it will be dubbed as a catastrophic failure inspite of it being a relative success and Mourinho will be off to that land of overcast skies.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Pigs might fly...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Having said that, if there is one man who can rescue Madrid from the clutches of the circus it has descended into of late and deliver, it is Mourinho. Mourinho has always learnt from his mistakes, has always emerged as a wiser man from his defeats and will probably be ready to face the increasingly edgy Pep Guardiola for the upcoming matches. The players will be too, though isolated cases of nervous or physical breakdowns cannot be discounted on both sides given the sensitivity and the profile of the matches being played out. Both managers are excellent at man management; both know their roles very well and both will be prepared. The blog will try to get a window into the gray matter of both opponents in succeeding articles as a fine build up to the El Clasico miniseries, but for now, this is it.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-42416193035675090352011-04-11T13:26:00.000-07:002011-04-22T00:32:20.996-07:00La Liga: A Storm Brewing...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back to Scoring Ways</td></tr>
</tbody></table> The big news in Marca today is that Messi, who is often a pain in most opposition's backsides, has a persistent pain in his own backside in the form of his ever bumbling brother who's once again in the news for 8 shots fired by an unidentified stranger outside his house. While this may not be a reason for Messi to have eerily lost his goal scoring form for about the same time as Ronaldo was injured, it certainly was not an impetus for the two shots he fired and made stick against strugglers Almeria (which goes on to mean that Ronaldo's return to injury might probably be the motivational factor). Joan Gasfart, er Gaspart, the scandal and debt ridden ex-president of Barca (Ah those were the times) has set the tone for the upcoming Mad April by claiming that if he was still the Barca president, he would've predicted a 14-0 scoreline in favor of his beloved Barca and not apologized after pressure from media based in the capital, unlike Rossel. But then again, as we all know, had Gaspart still been president, Barca would've, in all probability, been playing in the Europa League at this very moment. Meanwhile down in the sun soaked, beach blessed shores of the ever victimized Barcelona, Sporting Director Zubizarreta continued waxing more about Barcelona's infallible style. Busquets, not to be undone, has prioritized the Champions League in stark contrast to his coach who, aside from continuing to sample new hair therapy products and wistfully wishing a move away from the high pressure cauldron of the Camp Nou, prioritized the league a few weeks back. That certainly didn't reflect in the team's performance, eking out only a 2-1 victory against rock bottom Almeria, after going a goal down in the first half with the first of Barca's two goals coming from a soft penalty (Villarato anyone?). The fans of Almeria would've finally recognized the unshakeable truth that after some years in the glam sham, their club is once again destined for the gloom bloom of the Segunda. They have to, since they let one of Barcelona's midgets score a header past them despite having players beating their opposition for size.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8LRXaDXMI0PvKtQuN9cg5xzpnuEyxryIDgbQelgsAAc6VOgW9pn-xvUfWT3LibHEVLp1VoMb-v5xbYcmt3z4eiJYQBK2UQoihjIEnJifEw7hVGw4vzQpRN24Pt9DvqCLui9vftJurmA/s1600/img2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha8LRXaDXMI0PvKtQuN9cg5xzpnuEyxryIDgbQelgsAAc6VOgW9pn-xvUfWT3LibHEVLp1VoMb-v5xbYcmt3z4eiJYQBK2UQoihjIEnJifEw7hVGw4vzQpRN24Pt9DvqCLui9vftJurmA/s640/img2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaka - Simply back in the team</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The feeling down in the imperious capital though is one of joy. As Marca gleefully explains, Mourinho would have almost the entire 25 man squad at his disposal on the cusp of the fixture congestion before stressing on Ronaldo's return to goal scoring form and Kaka's return to his form of old, which is obviously not true at all. The article also lovingly explained to its the readers about the Maginficient 7 of Madrid in Ronaldo, Ozil, Di Maria, Kaka, Benzema, Higuain and Adebayor, conveniently ignoring and downplaying the importance of Alonso and the fact that out of the 3 strikers in the 7, only 1 would probably start. APTW though, takes a more hardline approach and feels that the only true magnificient thing about Madrid would be that they manage to beat Barca in one or more of the upcoming clasicos. It's certainly hard to predict how Madrid will play against Barcelona given their yo-yo form of late: a dismal 1-0 loss to Sporting Gijon marking the end of Mourinho's 9 year league home record and a big Shut Up served on a platter by Manuel Preciado, the guy who had the misfortune (or fortune) to stare down the two fingers of Mourinho sitting in the club bus indicating a trip to Segunda, a thumping 4-0 annhiliation of Tottenham and an indifferent, boring affair against Athletic Bilbao helped by a couple of penalties which Di Maria won, Kaka converted and topped by an individual effort by Ronaldo, who is back to scoring complete with angry kitten celebration, hair gel et al.<br />
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While all this madness is rife, focus has now shifted to the curious formation and starting eleven that Mourinho used against Athletic, supposedly in an effort to rest players for the upcoming fixtures. This has served up a hotbed of steaming conspiracy theories, with one version stating that Mourinho has finally given up on the league, a mark once again on the imperious Madridista image, a blot on the "Madrid always fights till the last" theory. The other version insists that Mourinho is rotating the squad at the right time to make Barca fight for the league and tire out it's relatively thin squad in an attempt to make them lose everything come April end. APTW is more likely to believe the first version given the fact that Mourinho himself admitted that the league is "objectively impossible" after the loss against Gijon. <br />
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On a side note, Referee Undiano Mallecano, the official designated to officate the Copa Del Rey is already the subject of electronic variants of cat calls from both sects of fans; the Azulgrana version being that he's the referee who's awarded the most penalties to Real Madrid, witj the Blancos citing the number of penalties he has not. AS.com helpfully provided some vital stats in relation to Undiano's officiating in the clasicos. With Barcelona winning 3 and drawing one in the four clasicos that Undiano has officiated till date, AS implies that the referee might just be favoring Barca. Of course, for madridistas it does not help that Undiano was the same referee who officiated in the infamous 2-6 at the Bernabeu, the 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu, the other two being the Ronaldinho inspired 3-0 victory of the 04-05 season at the Camp Nou and the 1-0 victory for Barca at the Camp Nou while under the embittered Pellegrini. The second point to chew on, which AS cast as a leftover was that Barca have been carded 7 times while Madrid got 16 shades of yellow. APTW feels that the referee may not have a very big impact on the game as some of the morons that officiate in La Liga do since Real and Barca both have not lost a single match under him this season.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Manita torpedoes the Yellow Submarine</td></tr>
</tbody></table> With the big two teams grinding out some rather dull, but effective wins this last weekend, the match of the weekend was served by the Valencia derby where Valencia served up a Manita to Villarreal, Mata and Soldado impressing for the home side. Valencia now have a six point cushion over Villarreal and with only one campaign left, their chance of making the 3rd CL slot seems to face little risk. The away side however, in a strong step away from tradition, was so downright pathetic that the fans could be forgiven for thinking that it was Deportivo who was playing the game. Borja Valero was visibly dejected and lamented the possibility of Villarreal getting their butts handed out to them on a silver platter if they play like this against FC Twente in the upcoming Europa League fixture. With the business end of the season looming large, Villarreal’s form seems to be taking a hit of late. The second darling of most fans in Spain has lately been moving like a submarine with a fuel gauge reading “E” in the league as they’ve had to compete on two fronts for most of the season; the Europa and the Champions League slot in the league, and their team is simply not cut out to concentrate on two campaigns. But with just seven games to go in the league and an eight point advantage over their nearest rivals, Villarreal’s CL slot is only theirs to lose. Their Europa League conquest for this season is a different story altogether though. Meanwhile lower down the table, the battle for Europa League slots is hotter than the battle for the first spot, with Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol and the inconsistent Atletico Madrid all separated by a mere two points. Javi Martinez made his teams intentions clear after the 3-0 loss against Madrid by promising a gory vision of the team being willing to sweat blood to make the Europa League slots. “Gory” works down in the Basque region and with La Real (Sociedad) floundering as they are, the fans would love Martinez’s promise.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-23466053528713304412011-03-29T11:38:00.000-07:002011-04-22T00:34:08.599-07:00A Spanish Fuera de Juego<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This blog hates International breaks. I hail from a country where cricket is religion; with the Cricket World Cup underway and the International Break, there’s absolutely no way I can seek solace in a 90 minute football match featuring Spanish clubs. Consequently, it’s your chance to be treated with some non-football garbage. The blog has taken the effort to take up only the most colorful topics in its endeavor to keep you alternately pleased and pissed (depending on your reading perspective).<br />
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<strong>Nightclub Brawls</strong><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, I was there!</td></tr>
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In yet another nightclub incident for 3rd place hopeful club Valencia, Vicente and a drunk buddy were reportedly caught in a confrontation with two total strangers outside a nightclub in the wee hours when people are enjoying being in dreamland brought upon by a tiring day’s work, a drunk stupor or a post orgasmic euphoria. Vicente, after initially refusing to be present, has now acknowledged that he indeed was present, but had nothing to do with the fight that left two club goers in hospital for treatment. The two club goers reportedly made comments to the tune of “You don’t seem to get on more” to Vicente, which could be related to Vicente’s inability to find a female partner for the night or his inability to find more playing time in the Valencia squad. Either way, APTW is inclined to believe Vicente’s version, as the innocent and professional player that he is (he reported on time for training early morning next day), he wouldn’t confront two strangers for stating something which even he would’ve been scratching his head about. However, assuming “Vicente 03:26” as something written down in the Holy Bible, I would want to be his friend’s friend. He took two strangers on and made them visit the hospital. That’s premium free insurance for you.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<strong>Ball kicking Journos</strong><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhES6q4b7AU6yCJX9B6sCtmPhdt1pjJVV83Tt9seGsf3hXweAUXgEUL_qczMxjt70w47C71kI0Z2FvmDDcHdDh821RvdcG5nq7jt0I38-mprScdiFg4efhaljpXjn5YVuu7lpSxjacCTRU/s1600/2011-03-28pachanga25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhES6q4b7AU6yCJX9B6sCtmPhdt1pjJVV83Tt9seGsf3hXweAUXgEUL_qczMxjt70w47C71kI0Z2FvmDDcHdDh821RvdcG5nq7jt0I38-mprScdiFg4efhaljpXjn5YVuu7lpSxjacCTRU/s640/2011-03-28pachanga25.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mourinho doing the Ronaldo act</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In what seems to be yet another marketing masterstroke, Real Madrid called upon notable armchair pundits from Spanish footie world with the likes of Sid Lowe (The Guardian), Jose Luis Sanchez (La Sexta), Pablo Polo (Marca) and others to participate in a match against Real Madrid staff which included head coach and one liner megamind Jose Mourinho, assistant coach Aitor Karanka and people from pretty much every auxiliary departments of the club. Jose Mourinho played in goal in the first half and made a couple of blinding saves. He certainly seems to have learnt a trick or two from watching San Iker train everyday at the Valdebebas. He also seemed to have taken a pointer or two from Tinkle Toes CR7 and the Noodle legged Angel as he left his goalkeeping duties to Real’s goalkeeping coach and moved up as targetman, falling everywhere theatrically at every touch to win a penalty (admittedly jocularly). The blog hopes he won’t be moaning about the lack of support his team received from the referee. APTW suspects that the real purpose of the match was to win some fan points from the journos, most of whom seem to have taken to the darker side of Spain (Chants of “This is not Spain” as accompaniment) , driven there by the football played in that part of the country and Mourinho’s incessant moaning in Madrid.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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On a side note, if journos can make good football players, bloggers certainly can.<br />
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<strong>Strikes and Lockouts</strong><br />
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This period of club level inactivity has also meant that people over the world are treated to a tidy bit of off the pitch La Liga madness coming out of Spain’s various media outlets. <a href="http://anotherprickinduhwall.blogspot.com/2011/03/liga-blues.html">LFP's brain farting decision to call a strike</a> with a week to spare has been challenged in court by six clubs from the Primera, who have been dubbed as the G-6 by the Spanish press, a name that does not quite befit that collection of meddle-your-noses-in-everyone's-affairs group of nations but which appears to be something out of a Hollywood super hero movie plot ala The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or The Watchmen (you get the drift)...In all this chaos, Florentino Perez sensing that the negative vibes brought about by a legal battle could rob his beloved club of some precious Euros due to drop in jersey sales, has come down like the messiah with a swift U-turn, opposing the strike, to calls of ‘Judas’ from the LFP. In his wake, Del Nido of Sevilla, the man who once grumbled that "At every match, Madrid are asking me to sell players" has allied with Florentino, leaving the LFP with a case on their hands, and Barca with dirt on their faces (from the Madrid press undoubtedly) for failing to turn around at the right time.<br />
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Anyway, the court has still not ruled on this matter, which means that fans and teams would be left with probably only a three day notice to prepare for their respective matches. Does it get any better than this in any other part of the world?<br />
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<strong>Potato Fields</strong><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQdOA3rzfuORj40-1sTXvun7l9uiXdRNpWGGueyJkwgWf7ODZH5WKqhAZ5_Hnlylyv3G55qTVNbmCgfw4YUWxHq-AsbRLsFce674XhTUldGvMCTzyHNX0FvZwyz4aOniBosPOPs-1vLg/s1600/Kaunas-pitch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="404" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQdOA3rzfuORj40-1sTXvun7l9uiXdRNpWGGueyJkwgWf7ODZH5WKqhAZ5_Hnlylyv3G55qTVNbmCgfw4YUWxHq-AsbRLsFce674XhTUldGvMCTzyHNX0FvZwyz4aOniBosPOPs-1vLg/s640/Kaunas-pitch.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pitch at Kaunas</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Spain’s U-17 team’s convincing victory over Northern Ireland and Spain’s 1-0 scrape against Columbia had the radioheads and ever maniacal journalists from Spain’s colorful dailies discussing the junior team’s gifted potential and the first team’s lack of entertainment and after enough discussion on this matter everyone got back to waxing about Barca’s fabled, self important La Masia and the upcoming Euro qualifier in Lithuania. </div><br />
A combination of bad weather and bad curatorship means that the pitch of Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas Stadium, the venue for the upcoming fixture in Lithuania, looks even worse than a potato field with little or no grass on it. Spain’s egomaniacal big two are understandably pissed given the injuriy risks to players who’d play on that pitch with Super April and its insane number of fixtures coming up. To add to this hoolah-hoo, the ever bumbling UEFA has now pronounced the ground in its shabby place as a “fit” place to play football, conveniently leaving the final decision to the match referee Laurent Duhamel , who certainly wouldn’t want to risk the irk of the home support by calling off the match on match day.<br />
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…Not that I’m complaining. As an Indian, I know that the pitch could get a far lot worse; players from top clubs in Europe and most of the rest of the world are generally pampered and this match would make them reminisce about their grass root level beginnings (pun intended).<br />
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<strong>He Said, She Said</strong><br />
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In other news, Barcelona have renewed goalkeeper Pinto’s contract which sees him tied down to the club for 2 more years. I wager a tenner that says the guy must be happy; 2 more years to sit on the bench and work on the decibel level of his whistle, which rivals that of the referee's and help him call out players for non-existent offsides when the referee had quite incorrectly ruled play on. Meanwhile Xavi has reiterated his wish of seeing Cesc Fabregas do himself what Pepe Reina and Puyol made him do in the post world cup celebrations, thereby giving yet another push to that all the more weary to be or not to be Ferry's wheel. With all these media bytes hitting the waves, it’s also worth sliding in the li’l nugget of juicy gossip that sugggests that the ever so self-conscious Barca hierarchy is contemplating on making the Camp Nou a smoke free zone by banning cigaretttes in the stadium. I guess the doping scandal did touch a nerve somewhere given the latest the club is contemplating. But while this decision hangs in limbo, one can’t help but wonder if the traditional cigars , caviar, and champagne would also disappear from the president's box? I certainly don’t think so. After all, the previous president allegedly made 40000 Euros out of this nifty business, and I dont think there's anything that would stop Rossel from doing the same.<br />
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Down in Madrid however, the press are going apeshit waxing their love up for Benzema, the latest in a typical move of Turnaround, an art which the Madrid based media has perfected. The press are also ecstatic about Higuain’s miracle recovery ahead of schedule, with Marca going so far as to claim that Kaka and Higuain will both make the squad against Gijon the coming weekend, assuming of course that our super hero G-6 wins its case in court. With the Madrid based media in adoration mode, Jose Mourinho was the epitome of humility, downplaying the importance of the upcoming fixtures going so far as to claim that it would still be okay if Real Madrid lost to Barcelona in all three competitions this season. I don’t think any sane Madrid fan would agree to this even if they’ve had their veins stuffed with some potent hallucination inducing stuff. The great Johan Cruyff, who after being ousted as honorary club president by the official president, has now taken up the unofficial post of Official Club Wanker and Moaner, supposedly to rival Mourinho’s sound bytes. The media of course is the real winner with Cruyff’s latest gem making headlines when he wrote: “Mourinho says nothing would happen if Madrid don't win a trophy? I agree, losing against this great Barça isn't a failure”<br />
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Meanwhile, Joan Capdevilla became the latest victim of Twitter gaffes when he tweeted: <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The latest Twitter Gaffe</td></tr>
</tbody></table> …which loosely translates to… <br />
<blockquote>"I love the jokes you send me!! By the way, today I asked myself: If a Chinese woman has a 'clio', what does she have? A car or a child? hahaha" </blockquote>…basically playing off the R/L sound distinction Asians can't make very well ("clio" is a type of car, "crio" is a child). The tweet was taken up in earnest and flagged down as a blatant case of shameless racism. Give me a break! APTW likes racist jokes, which doesn’t mean that I’m racist. But hey, how many times have u made fun of someone’s appearance, style of walking, clothing, lack of hygiene? Yes you are nodding. Now when I pick on your slur, you are offended. Russell Peters has made racial abuse his livelihood and boy I do enjoy watching his shows. The thing with racism is that people tend to go overboard with interpreting what constitutes a racial taunt. Things like what happened at the Vicente Calderon is definitely racism and funnily enough that has been largely overlooked and people are busy calling out Capdevilla for being racist. Sounds like something typically Spanish, don’t you think? …And with that racist taunt, I end this piece here.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-71015288865717872842011-03-23T13:22:00.000-07:002011-04-22T00:35:32.584-07:00Liga Blues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVl_oLayruBN_gl23bE3WapYq8v39NBIdWAShBfZbW99yuTl2tm6z94d4TnT2oKRFTXE2NZNCoejs-E0vzIeFxYDw-o_nW-CPVdnsvnOjmlMs-ZaLBA4MBolY2dgMGfKPjbwgALE5ntg/s1600/la-liga-iphone-wallpapers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="532" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVl_oLayruBN_gl23bE3WapYq8v39NBIdWAShBfZbW99yuTl2tm6z94d4TnT2oKRFTXE2NZNCoejs-E0vzIeFxYDw-o_nW-CPVdnsvnOjmlMs-ZaLBA4MBolY2dgMGfKPjbwgALE5ntg/s640/la-liga-iphone-wallpapers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>It’s been a long time since APTW has been on a self imposed, unannounced, crazy hiatus. I guess marriage does that to you; you need to grab a different perspective, plan life a bit, get adjusted to the demands of a wife who doesn’t really love football and does not really pretend that she’s not too flustered about the fact that she’s quite low down the priority order; football taking precedence everywhere…<br />
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Anyway, so you get the drift. With the reasons of my absence explained for those who are bothered, let’s dive into footy world finally. The last post on this blog was the nutty El Clasico preview, and the article was quite prophetic (about the nuttiness, I mean) seeing as the match itself was a nutty affair; 5-0? Plenty of things have happened since then: Real Madrid & Barcelona both making it to the Mestalla for the Copa Del Rey final (Surprise Surprise!), Barcelona losing to Arsenal, with the pretenders duly rolling over for them at the Camp Nou just as most other teams do and the way Atletico does against Real every season, Real Madrid breaking their 7 year long jinx(es) of getting their butts kicked out of the Champions League last 16 and by Lyon, Mourinho’s verbal tripe splashed all over the front pages, a doping scandal thrown in with Spain’s egomaniacal big two playing ‘He Said-She Said’ and finally settling on ‘No One Said’ (what was the point anyway?), Benzema (nà anyone?) graduating from purring to roaring, Ronaldo failing from roaring to purring (his furious kitten celebration forgotten somewhere down the line), Messi and Villa proving for the third match running that you put them together in a whorehouse and they still wouldn’t score…Whew! Plenty Indeed. And that’s just the big two.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUy7ipNMRuN5GImcC5p6dzVcGlyGbLfZI7vjXlYhrNo0gwO1eVDrPZWPMxAPY9xA6JKr5sZELA8a4v9HoAo5h3WXbP80eEWsYi8EWOU9lzrqm4IyUn6kay1uNwqm_ubpSnXONu0DUyAQ/s1600/La-Liga-e1282588247795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUy7ipNMRuN5GImcC5p6dzVcGlyGbLfZI7vjXlYhrNo0gwO1eVDrPZWPMxAPY9xA6JKr5sZELA8a4v9HoAo5h3WXbP80eEWsYi8EWOU9lzrqm4IyUn6kay1uNwqm_ubpSnXONu0DUyAQ/s640/La-Liga-e1282588247795.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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Down the order, Valencia and Villarreal are going through alternate periods of sun and rain; the non-existent crisis phases highlighted unduly by the media. But who cares? Both are currently tied on points, both are comfortably making it to next season’s Champions League with the next team a distant 11 points away. Coaches of both the teams however have contradicting dispositions lately. Juan Carlos Garrido is gleeful given the fact that Villarreal trounced Bayern Leverkusen in this edition’s Europa League and with Manchester (the other one) and Liverpool getting themselves knocked out, only Porto seem to hold any real challenge for the yellow submarines. Down in Valencia however, Ratatouille’s lead rat look alike Unai Emery isn’t too pleased given his team’s latest results. A 4-0 drubbing against relegation contenders Zaragoza had Emery philosophical, hoping that nothing would go wrong there on, but it did as Valencia lost against stuttering Sevilla; the loss making it 3 for Emery in as many games (Schalke, Zaragoza & Sevilla). Sevilla aren’t doing too well either. After half a year of moaning Luis Fabiano has finally left Spain for the samba and night life of Brazil and Sevilla have had to rely on the services of the ageing but skillful Kanoute to fight for the two Europa League slots. A draw against Barcelona followed by a win against Villarreal sees them hitting a rich nerve of form, though it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they wobbled yet again. Locked in that same battle are Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao for whom the end can’t come sooner. True to their tradition, Atletico Madrid are still the yo-yo team of La Liga. For a squad brimming with talent, the lack of consistency points to only 1 fact: Either Aguerro is too talented for this team or Forlan is doing naff all. Reyes does his bit, but he’s no Messi, neither is he a Ronaldo. So skills or dives aside, there’s only a limited amount of influence he can exert on this team, but how’s this for optimism: Quique Sanchez Flores expects the guillotine to fall down on his neck anytime, so technically he’s already in Zen.<br />
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You go down further where all the failed stories of this season lie (read Osasuna and their sacked manager), but this is where one finds a real success story in the form of Levante. Written off just a few weeks ago as a team already relegated and with nothing to lose, Levante have done the unthinkable in moving up a straight 10 places up the table in as many weeks. In the aftermath of the triple whammy (facing Real, Barca and Valencia back to back and losing all three games),they have taken 20 points out of a possible 27 in their last 9 matches, defeating illustrious opponents like Villarreal & Espanyol on the way. For a team whose players have always had to face not being paid on time, La Liga’s cheapest team is doing rather well. When all was lost, Luis Garcia started some psychology training sessions for the team, making the players fall down into their team mates’ arms from an elevated position to improve trust, hanging cutouts of the team’s limited successes in the dressing room, making a song with the entire team for their fans and the likes. The treatment has quite evidently worked and the kind of success the team is enjoying compared to the investment and the shoe string budget that it is run on is nothing short of a miracle. Talking of miracles, La Liga’s perennial mid-table team Deportivo are lounging alarmingly close to the drop zone with another mid-tabler Almeria already in the red zone, partnered by Hercules who started brilliantly claiming Barcelona’s scalp at the Nou Camp no less, but whose players have now lost any kind of motivation they may have had after not being paid for an extended period of time and being treated to an excessive overdose of mismanagement and unfounded criticism from those running the club. When it comes to mismanagement, another club, Malaga comes to mind. The moneybags from Gulf could not help prevent Malaga from reaching the drop zone, but it is that time of the year in Spain when monetary promises are made to fuel motivation and the club owners’ “€40,000 per point managed and between €80,000 and €100,000 if the side reach a tally of 45” is enough for the club to start ticking once more.<br />
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In other news, the LFP and RFEF are trying to grab the Spanish government by the balls by trying to postpone games in April; the purported reason being that the big two need more time to rest and do well in European tournaments, the real reason being they are losing out on a lot of cash because of the government’s legal requirement in having one Free-to-Air game every weekend and less percentage received in betting and lottery, which the LFP and RFEF quite obviously endeavor to change. The timing is sweet because the big two will definitely throw their weight around in support of the LFP in times of this fixture pile up and therefore the real reason behind LFP’s clever ploy would go unnoticed (certainly not when it comes to special bloggers like Yours Truly). The big risk here is that La Liga might end up being dragged till June, which means lesser time to convalesce for the next season, but the LFP is not bothered about it seeing as they’ve long been the bastion of inefficiency.<br />
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…Er well that’s that. To quote Steve Martin from The Pink Panther, “Let me bring you up to speed. We know Nothing. You are now up to speed”<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-79162901744405136772010-11-26T13:52:00.000-08:002011-04-22T00:36:18.592-07:00El Clasico 101<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let's Fight!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Okay this isnt a match preview written in glowing terms about the hallowed status of Real Madrid or Barcelona. If you intended to read such a thing, you can do so <a href="http://real.theoffside.com/team-news/el-clasico-preview.html">here</a> (Real Madrid)..or <a href="http://www.totalbarca.com/">here</a> (Barcelona). Be advised that they are viewpoints written by fans of the respective clubs, and as such may be biased. If you do want a neutral viewpoint, you can also try <a href="http://www.laligaweekly.com/2010/11/el-clasico-2010-1129-tactical-analysis.html">this</a>. However if you can take sarcasm and criticism you are the right place.<br />
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El Clasico 101 is the basic El Clasico guide for dummies. This guide will tell you what El Clasico means, and everything you need to know so that you can watch the match on Monday night having armed yourself with some worthless titbits from this post which will serve you no more than scandalize some fan of either club. So let us begin...<br />
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<strong>Real Madrid</strong> (noun) - is the name of Spain's biggest and most successful football club. They are also famous for owning their own private plane, amongst other things, and they hold the distinct record of top three record breaking transfers in the world of football (1st - Cristiano Ronaldo, 2nd - Kaka, 3rd - Zinedine Zidane). They're also the world's most hated football club and lately are coached by a manager who specializes in using 100% of his brains during football matches and talking out of his ass off the pitch.<br />
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<strong>FC Barcelona</strong> (noun) - is the name of Catalunya's biggest and most successful football club. They do not like themselves to be identified as Spanish, but unfortunately, Catalonia is a an autonomous region which is still part of Spain, which means they've forever had to carry the indistinction of being Spain's second largest and second most successful club. This complex leads them to have tremendous self-importance, which is why they're the self-proclaimed "People's club" whose fanbase includes distinguished personalities like the Pope himself.<br />
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<strong>Estadio Santiago Bernabeu</strong> (noun) - is the name of Real Madrid's football ground. It is an 80,000 seater stadium which has been declared by UEFA as one of the prime football venues. The fans in the stadium are known to be downright fickle and are famous for waving white hankies at their own players and coaching staff. They've also gotten used to FC Barcelona trouncing their team at this ground and understandably so, they've lowered their standards, so much so that they even cheer on 1-0 wins these days. The fans are known as Madridistas.<br />
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<strong>Camp Nou</strong> (noun) - is the name of FC Barcelona's football ground. It is a 98,000 seater stadium, which again contributes to FC Barcelona's self-importance when curiously they use this aspect as a yard stick for judging which club is bigger. The fans here have been witness to Spain's first treble. They are famous for cheering their own team on and for classless acts like throwing pig heads at opposite team players. The fans are also known as Cules (or ass people) because in early days when the fans used to watch the games, a person standing outside the stadium could see a collection of rows of asses stacked over each other.<br />
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<strong>El Clasico</strong> (noun) - A football match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, two of the biggest egomaniacal clubs of the Spanish La Liga, the big 2 so to say, who use their money and status as a non-profit organization (with government backing) to great ill-effect. The ill effects being that the two clubs grow stronger every year while the other teams in the Liga are left way behind in terms of financial strength of the pitch and talent on it. A stream of never ending media bullshit in Spain by the Spanish dailies like Marca, Sport, El Mundo Deportivo, AS, about the two big clubs in Spain means that everyone's second club is either Real Madrid or Barcelona. This is what makes the match big in Spain; the political backdrop of the regions from where both clubs hail, coupled with the strength of both clubs make this spectacle a global one.<br />
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Another Prick In The Wall also thinks that its worth mentioning something about the political backdrop in Spain at this point in the post. You see, Real Madrid are not the most hated only for their success, but also because they're the "establishment" club, i.e. a club run by the ruling establishment. In the days before democracy, when Spain was under the king's rule, they were one of the first clubs to have the King's patronage and sparks flew. Being found in Madrid was such a crime and I bet those who found the club wouldnt be able to bear the indignity and shame that it would have brought them by now. You see, my dear dummies, the club was founded by people from Barcelona and this is a fact you do not see advertised by either clubs for obvious reasons. After the king (or kings) rolled over in their graves, Franco arrived. Being in Madrid, Real Madrid automatically became Francisco Madrid in the eyes of all those autonomies whom he oppressed at the time. The club's success at the time of Franco's tenure meant that many colorful stories of legend were born, some saying that Franco and his henchmen would wait in the dugout with guns and threaten Barcelona players to lose. If Franco was asked about it today, I'm very confident that he'd reply, "I was busy censoring, torturing, oppressing and slaughtering the nation to be bothered by fixing matches". Real Madrid's success served as a vessel for propoganda, but to think that the Franco regime was actively involved in fixing matches is preposterous. Anyway, it's these legends that give the match a colorful tone. To this day, a Barcelona victory against Real Madrid is seen as a victory of the freedom fighters (note the self-importance) against the establishment. Some people even go the extent of pointing out Real Madrid's lack of success post the Franco regime, conveniently ignoring the important fact that Real have won the same number of European trophies as that of Barca and more leagues than Barca since then. <br />
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But enough of the Real band trumpeting; lets get back to the present. The present era sees FC Barcelona in probably the best time in their history. They have a youth academy which is the envy of the world, they have a starting 11, 7 of whom lifted the World Cup this year and they have the world's best player in Lionel Messi. Real on the other hand, have been hammmered by Barcelona in the last four outings, have spent close to 300 million eurs on new signings over 2 seasons (300 million euros is a price for which you can purchase entire football clubs!), have hired probably the world's best manager and are looking to finally lay their ghosts to rest by defeating Barca in the upcoming match.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-84216661893599131932010-11-08T03:07:00.000-08:002010-11-08T03:07:59.731-08:00Nutmegs, Backpasses & RollerballsAPTW loves Spanish Football. All those little tricks, tweaks, nutmegs, and back passes (literally off the back) is what makes Football down in the Iberian peninsula so much more attractive than in other parts of the world. So coming back to last weekend, APTW takes the time to run over yet another triple bomb…<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Villareal vs Athletic Bilbao</span></strong><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1azfdmZWI_n6PWbOelYirjLYzRKIQYag06WAGO5SY-3_iu-f7o2X_39ME5_4B4YUUHV0IIZvPZvHIFOPUVHRsfiI8mKqnE86TAG54FE_t-T0uzrlY1i_K1Pq0w1vdUPu_xIq65smIC4/s1600/villareal_win.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="417" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1azfdmZWI_n6PWbOelYirjLYzRKIQYag06WAGO5SY-3_iu-f7o2X_39ME5_4B4YUUHV0IIZvPZvHIFOPUVHRsfiI8mKqnE86TAG54FE_t-T0uzrlY1i_K1Pq0w1vdUPu_xIq65smIC4/s640/villareal_win.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Villareal celebrate after a comprehensive victory against Athletico Bilbao</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Athletic Bilbao is probably the only team in La Liga which can compare with an English club’s lack of imagination. They play a thuggish variant of hoofball and the way the match started, you could be forgiven into thinking that it was an English side playing the game. The match kicked off with Iraola hoofing the ball up to Llorente who is a solid “English” forward and his hold up play was so great that if the ensuing build up was just as good Athletic could’ve been a goal up in 12 seconds. It was therefore no surprise that within 5 minutes, Bilbao found themselves a goal up in true English fashion. A looping cross in from the left flank found Llorente unmarked in the box and he headed it in past Diego Lopez; no questions asked. But that was about the only time Bilbao did something noteworthy apart from hacking and kicking the Submariners in the entire match.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hit & Miss?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The yellow painted Madrigal spurred the home team on and almost immediately Villareal almost equalized through Rossi; once, twice and thrice, all in the space of 10 minutes. It was however, Nilmar who actually equalized for the Yellow Submarines as he scored a goal almost reminiscent of Llorente’s. Rossi got into the act soon after, making another hat-trick of misses before Cazorla scored Villareal’s second of the night just before the stroke of half time. Following a bad gaffe between Iraizoz and Ustaritz, Santi Cazorla latched on to the ball which was happily bobbing around in no man’s land and slotted past Iraizoz sending the Madrigal into different shades of yellow and the visiting Basque fans into various shades of crimson.<br />
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</div>The second half started predictably with Rossi making hash out of three other oppurtunities. For APTW, at this point in time, it was safe to think that Rossi wouldn’t score even in a whore house that night, but on the stroke of the 80th minute, after missing nearly nine good chances, Rossi finally scored on the football pitch from a text book counter attack. The fans seemed even more relieved about the goal than Rossi himself. Then, just as these things happen, deep into injury time, following another swift counter attack, Cazorla fed a majestic through ball to Rossi who buried it for his second of the night. Not that his opinions ever amount to much (as evident above), but APTW felt that had the match gone on, Rossi could’ve got a hat-trick easily.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Getafe vs FC Barcelona</span></strong><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveztPE6AADtK3MqqyaJfohFvODH1azjjOiczsuENNTyF2afIOxy5g4EYLus7HHkVs_qzdeh9OmATu8r138qX_gsXAnpU-4645cwc7POnWSq4nISQONwQRp1ak-5ypwux6tKz-35Iw4tQ/s1600/1stgoal_barca.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="470" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveztPE6AADtK3MqqyaJfohFvODH1azjjOiczsuENNTyF2afIOxy5g4EYLus7HHkVs_qzdeh9OmATu8r138qX_gsXAnpU-4645cwc7POnWSq4nISQONwQRp1ak-5ypwux6tKz-35Iw4tQ/s640/1stgoal_barca.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing Rollerball!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>With the two big teams from Madrid set out to battle in a couple of hours, Madrid’s 3rd biggest team welcomed Catalunya’s biggest team at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. The match started out as expected with Barcelona domination possession, Getafe sitting back and using a counter attack approach to score fast goals. As the first half aged, Barcelona started running riot with Villa hitting a shot over the crossbar, Villa caught offside, Messi and Pedro both coming close with ex-Real Madrid Castilla goal keeper Jordi Codina making saves to deny the latter two. There was only so much he could do as in yet another build-up, Alves toe poked the ball to Villa who faked a shot, did a roll on all four limbs with the entire Getafe backline behind him and slid a quick pass onto the onrushing Messi’s path who slotted it in neatly at Codina’s near post for Barca’s first goal. For want of summing up Villa’s move in one word, APTW will settle with calling that pass “Roller-Ball”. So sublime was the move from such a sublime player that even the Madrid based crowd had to applaud. Messi soon returned the favor to Villa who scored for Barca’s second, the game essentially over at that point.<br />
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The match continued in a similar pattern in the second half as well and Getafe’s hopelessness was summed up in Barcelona’s third goal. Codina passed the ball to Cata Diaz who was dispossessed by Messi, who then laid the ball off for Pedro to score his first and a simple third goal for Barcelona. That seemed to be curtains; but then Pique got his marching orders after being booked for handling the ball inside the penalty area (Pique had already picked up a yellow earlier for an untidy challenge). Manu scored from the ensuing penalty and Getafe decided to press on the man advantage. But they self pawned when they introduced Arizmendi. The best chances of the second half fell to Arizmendi, but let’s face it – he’s no Villa, hell he’s not even Rossi – so APTW was not surprised that he made a complete mess of all the chances he got. The clock soon wound down to full time and Barcelona finished the match 0-3 winners.<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid</span></strong><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_-7DQNobIOYENSVB4cW2Mx7NsrmRrjFYTHd1RPOcFiVpzV_8bJZdXYOEuBR0JPnk11H7wcpJIEvJvwKlxWu3DUoVYxCVOtYTQjTI943FeeuZ0rrqmn9iBsy18THaEApVrsrIemUIoVk/s1600/carvalho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_-7DQNobIOYENSVB4cW2Mx7NsrmRrjFYTHd1RPOcFiVpzV_8bJZdXYOEuBR0JPnk11H7wcpJIEvJvwKlxWu3DUoVYxCVOtYTQjTI943FeeuZ0rrqmn9iBsy18THaEApVrsrIemUIoVk/s640/carvalho.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carvalho reacts after scoring Real Madrid's 1st goal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In what was the last match of the night, Real Madrid hosted cross town rivals Atletico Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu with a giant banner proclaiming “Estos Es Madrid” (This is Madrid), probably a symbolic reference meaning “This is the true Madrid” or “This is Real Madrid where you do not win”. Whatever its implications, the giant banner would’ve surely been intimidating for the Rojiblancos who started out the match in their standard 4-4-2 formation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqK49zlRkewLA22vSHwMeIjG2P3eHYD1k5D-R9Q_Uu4xOSND3rGSs88O-iNGJAmXHaV6OLFOg8G5nMTYQXxaTurUduYEzpcnwu55Xtd0IWyewxuv4HsJk748sQNLSGsyJWZkMttL4JJ1Y/s1600/carvalho_bleed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqK49zlRkewLA22vSHwMeIjG2P3eHYD1k5D-R9Q_Uu4xOSND3rGSs88O-iNGJAmXHaV6OLFOg8G5nMTYQXxaTurUduYEzpcnwu55Xtd0IWyewxuv4HsJk748sQNLSGsyJWZkMttL4JJ1Y/s320/carvalho_bleed.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blood, Sweat, Tears & Goal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Real Madrid dominated possession early on with a Khedira goal rightly called offside, and within 10 minutes duly went ahead when Di Maria slipped in a ball which took a slight deflection off Ujfalusi before Carvalho – yes you heard it right; it was Carvalho – latched on to it and slotted it beautifully past David de Gea in the goal. Five minutes later, Filipe Luis took Ronaldo down just outside the box and the referee duly awarded the free kick after submitting to the linesman and Ronaldo’s cute crying puppy face, having ignored the challenge before. De Gea had positioned the wall incorrectly and this fact was not lost out on Ozil who kept his shot low and had the ball curve into the far post for Madrid’s second. The match there on was interesting in patches, since it became a midfield struggle with both teams pressing intensively for the ball. Jose Antonio Reyes had few good moments as he finked his way through Madrid’s defence for a couple of shots, one which went slightly over the bar, and one which Casillas parried away with a fine save. At the other end, Madrid had their own set of shots with Ronaldo, Di Maria and Higuain all coming close.<br />
<br />
The second half began and continued in much the same way as the first. Mid-way through the second half Ozil latched on to a pass from Ramos on the left flank, turned Simao inside out, dodged Suarez and nutmegged Filipe Luis, before carrying the ball and feeding to Ronaldo who shot straight at De Gea. Ronaldo soon had his own share of show boating to entertain the crowd with when he backpassed – literally passed the ball with his back – to Alonso who crossed it in deep to the far post. Ramos, unmarked, powered a header from 2 yards out which went wide. Ronaldo then sent in a lobbed ball to Higuain who struck a sweet, lethal volley that left De Gea’s post rattling. Diego Forlan did the same thing at the other hand, leaving Casillas’ post rattling. As the half wore on, Benzema came on for Higuain, and while his link up play with Ronaldo and Marcelo was a treat to watch, it did not result in any more goals.<br />
<br />
…Real Madrid are now top of the table with 26 points, highest number of goals scored and least conceded. Barcelona trail them by a point, while Villareal are third trailing the leader by 3 points.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-69386024117711743802010-11-04T06:36:00.000-07:002010-11-04T07:05:02.513-07:00Adios to a Player. Ola to a Coach<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBQoqb1zv-54tC-CsoO67QMv-6GZwiw2eTGEx17qpvemlgWKpW6fh7-gl_uTHS7EfZwTZPXOcr68Eu8Oey9lpCid0NklNVIR4vhOLKa4Mf-4AuU3c_NNr1j1jhztFKdikX5lIw0etKSo/s1600/ruben-de-la-red-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="410" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRBQoqb1zv-54tC-CsoO67QMv-6GZwiw2eTGEx17qpvemlgWKpW6fh7-gl_uTHS7EfZwTZPXOcr68Eu8Oey9lpCid0NklNVIR4vhOLKa4Mf-4AuU3c_NNr1j1jhztFKdikX5lIw0etKSo/s640/ruben-de-la-red-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adios to a Player. Ola to a Coach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ever so often you see players you <em>know</em> are destined to be legends in the sport. Ruben De La Red was such a player, a player who epitomized self-confidence, talent and skill. He was sold to Getafe by the Calderon (mis)management, who thankfully had the foresight to include a buy-back clause in his sale. As was expected, he impressed everyone, especially in Euro 2008 when he scored a couple of crackers and Real Madrid finally took notice of the gem they had let go.<br />
<br />
So, he was finally bought back by Real Madrid, and having risen from Real's youth ranks, the lad fit into the system like a glove. However sometimes, the effect of an entity's past actions are laden down on it in interest and that is what happened with Real Madrid. They lost DLR to a syncope he suffered while playing against Real Union in a Copa Del Rey Match<br />
<br />
Two years passed since then, and despite extensive medical tests, nothing conclusive was ever found. So that he doesnt risk a case like Dani Jarque happening, the club's medical department advised De La Red to give up football for good. Today, at the age of 25 which would've been his break through year, Ruben De La Red announced his retirement from football. Today has been a sad day for all the madridistas around the world knowing that Ruben will never play in the white of Real Madrid again. They however know that he'll always be a part of the club hierarchy in a coaching facility, and would like to see him take the club to unprecedented heights as a coach.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Ruben De la Red's Press Conference:</span></strong><br />
<br />
"I am starting a very exciting stage in my carreer. I wish to send my support to all those players out there whose careers were also cut short. I am also very grateful to all the people who have supported me since I fainted. I've fought against this in vain and doctors advised me to stop. I always dreamt of becoming a football player and to be successful at this club, which is the greatest in the world. Real Madrid has watched me grow since I joined the Under-10 side and now it sees me retire from the game. I want to become a coach now. I may have a problem in my heart, but it still beats for Madridismo." <br />
<br />
"I am very excited and anxious to start this new stage in my career thanks to the Club. I will be able to continue to work at a place I regard as my home. I will try to learn the skills of a coach and I will give my all to be successful. I am very excited and will be eternally grateful to the Club. I've been watching football from a different perspective for quite some time now, while at the same time I've been preparing for this new stage. Real Madrid are currently one of the strongest teams in Europe." <br />
<br />
"I would like to eventually coach a great team like Real Madrid, but I really aspire to be satisfied with myself. I want to reach the elite some day."<br />
<br />
"Jose Mourinho was very aware of my situation since day one and he was very clear when he spoke to me. He told me he counted on me if I was able to play, but if that wasn't the case, he said he would be delighted to have me in his staff."<br />
<br />
"I've had many great moments. I took a very important step as a player when I was coached by Quique Sanchez Flores on the Under-19 side. I also fondly remember when Castilla were promoted with me on the team and the spectacular season Getafe had when I was there. That's my fondest memory because it allowed me to be called-up by the Spanish national team, with whom I ended up winning the Euro 2008. I then returned to the club that's marked my whole life."<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Jorge Valdano on Ruben:</span></strong><br />
<br />
"This day marks a turning point in Ruben's life. He ends his career as a player to focus all his passion for this sport on training. He is, from today, a part of Real Madrid's Coaching Staff snd will start learning about what we do and how we come about it. He will also be part of Mourinho's 'lab', in which every game is rigorously prepared. The objective is for Ruben to learn skills in order to apply them to whatever team he ends up being assigned to. He's gone through all of the different teams the Club has and he will use that experience to continue to be a part of the world of football."<br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Press conference credit: </span></em><a href="http://www.realmadrid.com/"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">RealMadrid Official Website</span></em></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-15275046700840084842010-11-04T02:17:00.000-07:002010-11-04T02:34:59.720-07:00Oppurtunities, Offsides & Orgasmou<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_Y5VoNiR0T6imwxpDn2Y0uPsMvkDyURFB5pn8khiE77ndn27bAXQvWxta_vAY4IKuFwAMM9nI1WbVjAIebOFtEUC5yRY8P5yXR1R4Hd6zt052EfpZiJpNMZG-s-Qsxp2BESq4VB3ZhE/s1600/higuain700_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_Y5VoNiR0T6imwxpDn2Y0uPsMvkDyURFB5pn8khiE77ndn27bAXQvWxta_vAY4IKuFwAMM9nI1WbVjAIebOFtEUC5yRY8P5yXR1R4Hd6zt052EfpZiJpNMZG-s-Qsxp2BESq4VB3ZhE/s640/higuain700_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real Madrid celebrate after scoring their 700th goal in Europe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>An AC Milan vs Real Madrid encounter is always special, even before the ball is kicked, because it is the coming together of European Royalties. To put things into perspective, they have a mind boggling 28 European trophies between them – enough for any trophy cabinet curator to have a nightmare maintaining them – and the 2nd leg played out last night lived up to the pre-match media hype. The match was significant because of two reasons:<br />
<ol><li>Real Madrid have never won at the San Siro, and with The Special One in charge (who incidentally used the same ground as home for the other Milan, the treble winners Inter Milan, and has never lost there), they had a chance to break the jinx</li>
<li>Allegri finally seemed to have seen sense and benched Clarence Seedorf in favor of Kevin Prince Boateng. With Abbiati, Pato and Silva back in the squad, Milan could boast that they were full strength this time round, so there was going to be no room for excuses</li>
</ol><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Oppurtunities</span></strong><br />
<br />
The match started predictably with Real Madrid dominating possession and blooding Milan with sucker punches. To say that Real Madrid deserved to be two goals up by the 30th minute is no overstatement either as Los Blancos peppered the Milan goal. Higuain latched on to a ball by Ozil early in the half and drilled a shot to the far post through four static Milan defenders. Abbiati scrambled and saved what would otherwise have been a very fine goal. As the first half aged, Madrid started turning the screws tight, with Sergio Ramos sending in a cross almost from the goal line to Higuain who headed it in perfectly, only for Pirlo to head it off the line; the ball landed to Di Maria who unleashed a volley, which Pirlo again headed out to safety off the line. As the half wore on, the urgency dimmed a bit, but Madrid’s brightest spark Di Maria latched on to a loose ball, went on a typical marauding run before picking out Higuain and feeding in a majestic through ball to the striker, who announced his real arrival on the European scene by scoring past Abbiati to the far post for Real Madrid’s 700th goal in European tournaments.<br />
<br />
<div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgt1feECqbhjtgOk3X13hdLiU7XSoOQBDLu2I1gQqF0IZW4_4P8X-n48qdCcIvK9OWccVyC9SnDejvsNk9z0xj8pRCa9aRxJS3ED_6j-5JsapRFeSDw_vV8ngasUjmLmxiJqGRpBGL9s/s1600/higuain700_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgt1feECqbhjtgOk3X13hdLiU7XSoOQBDLu2I1gQqF0IZW4_4P8X-n48qdCcIvK9OWccVyC9SnDejvsNk9z0xj8pRCa9aRxJS3ED_6j-5JsapRFeSDw_vV8ngasUjmLmxiJqGRpBGL9s/s640/higuain700_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Higuain writes his name into the Elite List</td></tr>
</tbody></table>What Irony that Higuain, who some sect of fans dub as a failure on the European scene, now joins an elite list of players who’ve scored milestone goals for Real Madrid in Europe (Miguel Munoz - 1st, Di Stefano -100th , Puskas – 200th, Jensen – 300th, Losada – 400th, Guti – 500th, Beckham – 600th)<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxy1AKSxgo3CdFYFp6qobxFQ7ctpxq09FTWRcuyx14MYymsGuF25BmXHcM8HHBpTMOeeHnT-aMAgp5nG9N3JRY4R5tOVBMFFaQ_MdvvIHvVnBI8N70R5Ime-K0YH5eUpdisYpnn6LVTI/s1600/mou_inzaghi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxy1AKSxgo3CdFYFp6qobxFQ7ctpxq09FTWRcuyx14MYymsGuF25BmXHcM8HHBpTMOeeHnT-aMAgp5nG9N3JRY4R5tOVBMFFaQ_MdvvIHvVnBI8N70R5Ime-K0YH5eUpdisYpnn6LVTI/s320/mou_inzaghi.jpg" width="192" /></a><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Offsides</span></strong></div><br />
AC Milan looked to hit Madrid on the counter, but were not too successful seeing as the Real Madrid defensive line played high up the park and the forwards duly got caught offside. Ibrahamovic performed his disappearing act in Europe once more and Pato was a disappointment as well, but that was more due to the fact that Marcelo and Carvalho doubled up on him exceedingly well. AC Milan’s change came in the form of Inzaghi, the man identified by Mourinho as the danger man for Real and it was no surprise why Mourinho felt so, because Inzaghi scored two goals, the first one through combined gaffes by Pepe (who went to ground easily in a big game once again) and Casillas who misread Ibra’s cross and made a big mess out of it allowing Inzaghi to ghost in and score a header. Inzaghi’s second goal came from an offside position, which in the linesman quite inexplicably decided not to flag down, thereby cementing the popular phrase “Inzaghi was born and will die offside”<br />
<div></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoeAI2HP3HsHKXfvAMnZ5V2ZGX1BNeY8VEvYryggVkQ6jj_tLXTocalAYhdNTgZxE7lYRWOjLSVuTYvBibZu77yhMIAqdS5DeSMQe6_o-M5MK737guq-iQRa-XScFs2tbSOKTfjkDtqT0/s1600/orgasmou_chalkboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoeAI2HP3HsHKXfvAMnZ5V2ZGX1BNeY8VEvYryggVkQ6jj_tLXTocalAYhdNTgZxE7lYRWOjLSVuTYvBibZu77yhMIAqdS5DeSMQe6_o-M5MK737guq-iQRa-XScFs2tbSOKTfjkDtqT0/s320/orgasmou_chalkboard.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Orgasmou</span></strong><br />
<br />
Finding themselves a goal down despite dominating the entire match, Madrid looked out of ideas, out of inspiration and out of time. That is when Jose Mourinho worked his magic once more. Now APTW is very fair when it comes to awarding credit. The particular change which Mourinho made (replacing the erroneous Pepe with Benzema), was a tactic which Mourinho had seemingly borrowed from Pep Guardiola (re: Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona). What Guardiola did then was push up Alves into a LWM position with Busquets dropping back into the remaining three man defence to restore parity with the number four. It was in effect a 3-4-3 which became a 4-3-3 when Barcelona were without the ball. A similar approach was used by Mourinho who took off a centre back and put in a forward who likes to drift in from the flanks. He then took off Higuain who was the lone reference high up the pitch, and put in Pedro Leon a right winger. The players were moved on the field like chess pieces, with Madrid’s 4-2-3-1 becoming a 3-4-3 in attack and a 4-3-3 in defence.<br />
<br />
Khedira moved deeper to sit ahead of the 3 defenders and sometimes dropped even deeper to compensate for the 4th man. Ramos (just like Puyol in Pep’s setup), is primarily a RB who can play center back and he did just that. Ronaldo moved from the left flank into the centre of the attacking trident, with Di Maria moving to his preferred left flank. Benzema took up the right side of the attacking trident, Ozil moved from his advanced playmaking role into the deep playmaking role, while Alonso moved deep and slightly off to the left, to compensate further for the reduced man in defence. Pedro Leon on the other hand was given full freedom to utilize the right flank and co-ordinate with Benzema, thereby utilizing both players with fresh legs against the tired legs of Milan. This tactical change worked wonders, as Benzema took the ball outside Milan’s box and opened himself to unleash a shot. Pedro Leon meanwhile had moved high up the park, almost as a targetman, and just as Benzema opened himself to take his shot, Leon made his run. Benzema spotted him and made an inside pass to Leon who slotted it between Abbiati’s legs for the equalizer with 30 seconds to go, stunning the San Siro into pin drop silence.<br />
<br />
<div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpWqLnj0OTVfi-nv7bbVY3utXrQsyl-4DgxJ8Z9JSDpgQmaah1j3MCsbiVILgzLjOsQx-3okqvbuW45paOCiP7NEa4Hrjhbn1Nz8X1QjFda6UM_YHPUaSaZyeWNzB2UlFTih3BsR6RTc/s1600/benenamrpedero13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="442" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpWqLnj0OTVfi-nv7bbVY3utXrQsyl-4DgxJ8Z9JSDpgQmaah1j3MCsbiVILgzLjOsQx-3okqvbuW45paOCiP7NEa4Hrjhbn1Nz8X1QjFda6UM_YHPUaSaZyeWNzB2UlFTih3BsR6RTc/s640/benenamrpedero13.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super Subs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>He may not be a Zidane or a Maradona, but Pedro Leon certainly has the mentality to be one. There are not many people who come on as a substitute and score the winner with 30 seconds to go in a ground as intimidating as the San Siro. Gattuso who was subbed for Seedorf couldn’t believe his eyes, while Inzaghi (having flashed the number 69 after scoring in a dig to Raul) had that look by which one can surmise that he must’ve wished Abbiati was never born.<br />
<br />
<div></div>...All in all, the match was one of the most entertaining matches APTW has seen, and mainly because of the sheer aura that both the teams have. Real Madrid should’ve won the match had they taken their chances well, but in retrospect, a draw is a very fair result. Props to Howard Webb for letting the game go on, instead of being a whistle happy ref.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-54435315563515091662010-10-19T03:34:00.000-07:002010-10-19T03:41:49.756-07:00Faking News: Liverpool's Future & Barca's Treble Valuation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>It’s time for Another Prick In The Wall to report some sensational news which probably isn’t covered by any of the bigger news sources for fear of fan backlash or litigation. But being brave and challenging the accepted norms of society comes naturally to APTW, and hence without bothering about the consequences, APTW exclusively reveals two startling nuggets of information here:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayDWvPkVBq2sz4KertGxOrOubAPkSV0R2Q39z1w81BtWrtVzpSHH4Oz6Qs81wQ9r9peRhpe2ubSQnQNco_YiQ3A0zmaNuga1_wImwF1p2XLUAL4WBd4fzoRs_r0qJLf4fKHAgjOpr3hU/s1600/chipdale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiayDWvPkVBq2sz4KertGxOrOubAPkSV0R2Q39z1w81BtWrtVzpSHH4Oz6Qs81wQ9r9peRhpe2ubSQnQNco_YiQ3A0zmaNuga1_wImwF1p2XLUAL4WBd4fzoRs_r0qJLf4fKHAgjOpr3hU/s400/chipdale.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chip & Dale</td></tr>
</tbody></table><strong>John Henry’s plans for Liverpool FC</strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/john-henry-the-first-interview">John Henry talked to the fans of the club he recently took over</a> from the beleaguered previous owners Hicks & Gillett – making them look like Chip & Dale in the process – and while he said that NESV had big plans for Liverpool Football Club, he carefully refrained from outlined what exactly those plans were.<br />
<br />
However, based on inside information from a source high up with NESV, Another Prick In The Wall confirms that John Henry plans to start Liverpool Football Club in place of er…Liverpool Football Club, the word Football being key. As the insider who quoted to APTW, “Note that John Henry never said Liverpool Soccer club, he said Liverpool Football Club”. Based on this valuable comment, APTW assumes that starting from the short term, John Henry plans to retain Roy Hodgson and the current crop of players, who he feels are much more suited to playing football the American way (Rugby, for those who're not bright). “The possibilities are endless”, our source tells us, “NESV, in the long term plan to start the NESV’s English Premier League which will feature all those clubs who are owned by sugar daddies who don’t give two hoots about football [the English one], are on the path of either going bankrupt or being thrown out by the insufferable English FA, and are open to being bought out by caring owners like us who are willing to give them a facelift and an entire sportlift”<br />
<br />
For full quotes by the insider at NESV, <a href="http://anotherprickinduhwall.blogspot.com/p/newsflash.html">click here</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsoZ1dia1ljMJG7SNGqZs1hgtAE8dn1q3199jDp1tNIS08CvtjMBgaQGsqv_JW-uAuDs4L-FClssCbRWBhfXnKwmiNnT-NuBh6XrTfEeKsyoqv2x3Co0qT6AiV6dqw2CFq6qHLouLg43w/s1600/rosell_masch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsoZ1dia1ljMJG7SNGqZs1hgtAE8dn1q3199jDp1tNIS08CvtjMBgaQGsqv_JW-uAuDs4L-FClssCbRWBhfXnKwmiNnT-NuBh6XrTfEeKsyoqv2x3Co0qT6AiV6dqw2CFq6qHLouLg43w/s400/rosell_masch.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comic Look Alikes?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><strong>The True Valuation of Barca’s Pep Team</strong><br />
<br />
Summer 2009-10, a very confident <a href="http://fourfourtwo.com/news/spain/32612/default.aspx">Xavier Sala-i-Martin had announced that for € 65 million, Barca could buy the entire team that took the field in Rome for the Champions League final of 2008-09</a>. Not minding the hypocrisy – Barca splashed roughly the same amount on Zlatan Ibrahamovic in the same summer – it turns out that poor Xavier was wrong after all.<br />
<br />
The latest investigation carried out by Barca’s comic Mascherano look-alike president Sandro Rossell (the Mascherano signing is finally explained, don’t you think) seems to suggest that the true valuation of the Barca team that took to the field in the 08-09 final is at least € 102 million; the rather debatable 65 million of Senor Xavier and an extra, hitherto undisclosed € 47 million splashed by ex-president Joan Laporta on Rolex watches, caviar, champagne, for players and “refreshments” for all the fat turds that sit in the VIP box, and the likes. If there’s such a benevolent president who gives away freebies per game, I’m sure even Levante can have the motivation to do a treble. The full findings will be published in the civil court where Joan Laporta has set out to get screwed…er…sued. So, stay tuned for the end game and remember you read about it first on Another Prick In The Wall.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-651791705234442589.post-28798058674534586272010-10-18T08:09:00.000-07:002010-10-18T08:19:56.881-07:00A Triple Sundae<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-BETctIElGsb3tGy3fWFUocvWPdNmek9O6A03eT-GRDVpweoHdelvVBUSGkx4pqjymPdNGOSgCXN20o4Ma3TKSzAs3mTj4IvjZuwUJgFXmlClbW2xtv5M11gAjUuZ_BF1UUi3olebofA/s1600/quartet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-BETctIElGsb3tGy3fWFUocvWPdNmek9O6A03eT-GRDVpweoHdelvVBUSGkx4pqjymPdNGOSgCXN20o4Ma3TKSzAs3mTj4IvjZuwUJgFXmlClbW2xtv5M11gAjUuZ_BF1UUi3olebofA/s640/quartet.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unstoppable Quartet</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Alright the title is a bit misleading since it covers matches that were played on a Saturday, but then the matches served up were comparable to the joys derived from eating the famed dessert and it was one of the most enjoyable weekends I’ve had because of two reasons: Firstly, it was a weekend featuring club football after 2 long weeks and secondly any match involving Real Madrid is “Special” (pun intended) these days.<br />
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<strong>Atletico Madrid vs Getafe</strong><br />
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Moving on to the first match, Atletico vs Getafe was a brilliant, entertaining match and had me and my dad on the edge of our seats. Now, my dad isn’t a football follower, but stayed up to watch what I was serving him on the telly, and surprisingly he enjoyed it. I had originally expected this match to be a high scoring one given the fact that Madrid derbies are generally high scoring; and it sure was end to end stuff but minus the goals. That being said, Getafe looked uninspired in the final third and it was no wonder that De Gea was hardly tested in the Atletico goal. On the other hand, with due respect to Atletico, I’m beginning to think that that popular parlance of Atletico being only as good as Forlan and Aguerro together are, is true. In their absence, Atletico apart from some cameos by Reyes, Simao and Valera (for the final goal) looked out of ideas while finishing moves. Fran Merida in particular, had a forgettable night and was duly subbed out by Diego Forlan on the 66th mark. Simao netted the first goal from a wicked free kick, while Valera made a very fine overlapping run on the flank and squared the ball in to Diego Costa who put it in from 3 yards out for the second.<br />
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<strong>Barcelona vs Valencia</strong><br />
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The second match of the night started as soon as Atletico wrapped up the 3 points and I was looking forward to the usual “Barcelona attacking, opposition defending with 70+ % possession in favor of Barcelona, but finding goals hard to come by” thingy. However, Unai Emery’s Valencia did pull out a rabbit out of the hat. In the first half, they led in all aspects: possession, shots, corners and more importantly goals. In fact, Valencia totally “outbarca’d” Barcelona in the first half; Pablo Hernandez finished off a wonderfully worked move from Mathieu on the left flank and was unlucky not to have scored another. With 45 minutes to go, the Asturians hit the showers for a quick breather, while the Catalans hit Pep’s spit shower. By Pep’s own public admission, he pisses perfume and I presume the spit too has some invigorating effects because it was a different Barca that took the pitch once the game resumed. Suddenly Valencia started getting pegged down, the possession counter shifted balance and World Cup Hero Andres Iniesta scored a trademark goal from 6 yards out; that of ghosting in through the defence, latching on to a Xavi final ball and slotting it past the keeper. While Valencia tried their best to figure out why Iniesta was not flagged down for offside, Xavi sent in a lobbed ball which Puyol brutally headed past Cesar Sanchez who until then was man of the match given the number of times he’d denied Barca a goal. At 2-1, Barca kept rolling the ball with their famed horizontal passing and saw out the match to become level on points and joint leaders with Valencia, at least until Madrid's game.<br />
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<strong>Malaga vs Real Madrid</strong><br />
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After two entertaining matches, I was very apprehensive when Ferreira’s Malaga welcomed Real Madrid at La Rosaleda. Malaga had a piss poor home record but they have played a 4-3-3 this season with two pacey wide men in Rondon and club hopper Quincy, who drift in and could pose a threat for Marcelo and Arbeloa. Malaga, until then, also had the best goal scoring record of La Liga with 12 goals, but had a goal difference of zero. I didn’t expect Real Madrid to keep a cleansheet, rather I hoped they outscore Malaga. And exactly that happened. With the International break, everyone had read a lot about Ronaldo’s selfishness, but what they saw against Malaga was his selflessness. Around the 30th minute mark, instead of choosing to the cut outside the left back and go for glory like he generally does, Ronaldo lobbed a ball instead to the far post and Higuain slotted it past Galatto from an angle of roughly 3 degrees sending La Rosaleda into rapturous silence. The party tricks were on after that as the attacking quartet of Ronaldo, Higuain, Ozil and Di Maria meshed into a single entity allowing Malaga absolutely no respite. Ronaldo scored a penalty won by Ozil, before slotting in another one from open play, the pass created again by Ozil. Soon he sent Higuain through for the team’s fourth and Higuain’s second to finish with two goals and two assists himself. The best scene of the match was Mourinho gesticulating to a petrified Pedro Leon asking him to get his ass at the byline and start warming up, thereby quashing a lot of talk about fallout between the two. The best comment of the weekend was from Mourinho after the match when he immediately said that he was unhappy that Madrid had conceded from a set piece yet again. No doubt, The Special One will be working on some counter solution for that.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15221523026326423508noreply@blogger.com0